Chevron Phillips Chemical Company has agreed to sell its Ryton chemical business to Solvay Specialty Polymers USA LLC, the company announced.
Chevron Phillips Chemical said that the polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) operations were a better strategic fit for Solvay, a company that has a strong engineering polymers portfolio.
Solvay will pay $220 million to purchase the business, which includes PPS resin manufacturing assets in Borger, Texas, a pilot plant and PPS research and development assets in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, a compounding plant in Kallo-Beveren, Belgium, and certain intellectual property relating to the Ryton PPS business.
Another compounding plant, in La Porte, Texas, will remain part of Chevron Phillips Chemical and will be operated by the company exclusively for Solvay.
About 200 people currently work in the Ryton PPS business and most will have the opportunity to join Solvay, said Ron Corn, senior vice president of specialties, aromatics and styrenics for Chevron Phillips Chemical.
The deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2014, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearance.
Ryton PPS is a polymer that can resist corrosion and high temperatures. When blended with glass fibers and other fillers it produces engineering plastics that offer the benefits of precision molding, long-term and short-term thermal stability, resistance to a variety of aggressive chemical environments and inherent non-flammability.
