Skip to main content

Solvay completes acquisition of Ryton® PPS, expanding its specialty polymers offering

Share to
Press release

Brussels, January 5, 2015 --- Solvay has completed the acquisition of the Ryton® PPS (polyphenylene sulphide) business from U.S.-based Chevron Phillips Chemical Company for $220 million, enlarging its high-performance polymers offering and entering a solid growth market.   

Solvay’s Global Business Unit (GBU) Specialty Polymers has bought two Ryton® PPS resin manufacturing units in Borger, Texas, a pilot plant and R&D laboratories in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, as well as a compounding plant in Kallo-Beveren, Belgium with a total of about 200 employees joining the Group. Chevron Philips Chemical’s compounding unit in La Porte, Texas, will provide temporary tolling services to Solvay, allowing for an orderly transition with the Ryton® customer base.

Solvay Specialty Polymers, which has the industry’s broadest product portfolio, will access new business segments with innovative and demanding applications in transportation, automotive in particular, in electronics and in filter bags. The acquisition is part of Solvay's strategic development to enhance its specialized solutions, deliver higher growth and greater returns while reducing cyclicality. The Ryton® PPS businesses will be consolidated into Solvay's accounts as of January 1, 2015.

As an international chemical group, SOLVAY assists industries in finding and implementing ever more responsible and value-creating solutions. Solvay generates 90% of its net sales in activities where it is among the world's top three players. It serves many markets, varying from energy and the environment to automotive and aeronautics or electricity and electronics, with one goal: to raise the performance of its clients and improve society's quality of life. The group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 29,400 people in 56 countries and generated 9.9 billion euros in net sales in 2013. Solvay SA (SOLB.BE) is listed on EURONEXT Brussels and EURONEXT Paris (Bloomberg: SOLB:BB - Reuters: SOLB.BR).