Bakelite to acquire LRBG Chemicals

Bakelite Synthetics has agreed to purchase LRBG Chemicals, in Longueuil, Quebec, for an undisclosed sum. Both companies have similar product lines. Founded in 1937, LRBG makes powdered resins such as melamines, used in school furniture and dishware, and liquid resins such as phenolics, found in plywood and oriented strand board. Bakelite traces its roots to Leo Baekeland’s commercialization of phenolic resins in 1907. It operated as part of Hexion until it was acquired by the private equity firms Black Diamond and Investindustrial in 2021. Bakelite bought Georgia Pacific’s resins business last year.