K2019 | EXHIBITION REVIEW
Domo prepared for “big step” in PA engineering plastics
The completion of the acquisition of Solvay’s European PA66 business, which should be finalised in January next year, will be the biggest step to date in Domo Chemical’s plans to create a fully integrated position in polyamide- based engineering plastics. “It is a big step for us but it is a merger of equals,” Domo Chemicals CEO Alex Segers said at the show. “We will double the solu- tions we can bring to our customers.” The €300m deal to buy
the European parts of Solvay’s Performance Polyamides business includes engineering plastics operations in France and Poland, a high perfor- mance fibres unit in France, PA66 polymer and interme- diates capacity in France, Poland and Spain, and a BASF/Domo adipic acid production joint venture in France. The sale of the units was
required to gain European Commission approval for BASF’s acquisition of
existing Domamid virgin and Econamid recycled products. However, it is in the
Domo Chemicals CEO Alex Segers: Merger of equals
Solvay’s global PA business. The move will see Domo’s annual revenues grow from €900m to near €1,600m and will double its number of employees to more than 2,100.
Segers described the
deal – which involved more than eight months of negotiations between BASF, Solvay and the European Commission and is still, at least technically, not finalised – as “a complex process.” The acquisition will bring together the Solvay Technyl PA brand with Domo’s
downstream integration that Segers sees the big appeal. “Our strength is in downstream,” he said. “When the Solvay business- es came on the market we saw a perfect fit.” Domo’s polyamides business traces its roots back to the 1994 acquisition of the Leuna site. It has since invested some €650m in the facility, which produces caprolactum and other intermediates. It made its first substantial move into engineering plastics in 2004 when it bought a PA6 production unit at Premnitz followed in 2013 with the acquisition of Aquafil Engineering Plastics in Italy and the purchase of US firm Technical Polymers in 2015. Domo is also a leading European producer of biaxially oriented PA films. While undoubtedly a huge bolt-on to Domo Chemicals, Segers said integrating the new busi-
nesses was something it felt very capable of doing following the experience gained with its acquisitions of Aquafil and Technical Polymers. “We want to integrate the business well. It is a big step and we are not underestimating it…but we have grown as a com- pany in our competence and technical capability in engineering plastics. We could have not done this five years ago,” he said. The ability this deal
presents to add new capabilities right along the PA66 production process is also in line with Domo’s strategy of integrated production and further strengthening of its overall position in polyamides, which Segers says offer unrivalled versatility and performance and, due to their recycling opportuni- ties, fit well within the circular economy. “We believe in integrated companies,” he said. “We buy to grow, we don’t buy to do what we did in the past.” �
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