Perstorp to Buy Solvay Caprolactone Unit

Swedish specialty chemicals maker Perstorp is buying Solvay's caprolactones unit for about $285 million. Perstorp says the business is the largest of its kind in the world. Solvay makes e-caprolactone at a plant in Warrington, England. Major uses of e-caprolactone include making polyols for producing polyurethanes for shoe soles and medical splints. The Solvay business employs 65 people and generated revenues of $85 million in 2006. Solvay says the unit has no significant synergies with Solvay's other pharmaceutical, chemical, and plastics businesses. Moreover, the company doesn't make cyclohexanone, the key raw material for e-caprolactone. Perstorp doesn't make cyclohexanone either, but it does make polyols that go into applications similar to those derived from e-caprolactone. Pending the expected completion of the deal in the fourth quarter of this year, Perstorp plans to double capacity for e-caprolactone and expand capacity for downstream polyols and other polymers.