BRUSSELS -- Belgian group Solvay (IW 1000/288) said on Monday it had acquired U.S. specialist chemicals company Chemlogics for $1.3 billion in a deal intended to boost profits from next year.
Chemicals giant Solvay said that Chemlogics specializes in products for the U.S. oil and gas industry and had annual sales of some $500 million.
The takeover will generate significant synergies and enable Solvay to offer a more complete product range in a U.S. oil and gas extraction market worth $8.0 billion overall, it said.
It also reflected the company's new strategy to focus on high-growth sectors with wider profit margins, it added.
In July, Solvay reported that its second-quarter net profit tumbled 38% to 148 million euros (US$190 million) in a "difficult" environment.
Solvay said at the time that it continued to press ahead with a restructuring program to boost its competitive position.
The Chemlogics deal requires U.S. regulator approval and should be finalized by the end of the year.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013
