Rhodia will sell silicones business to China's BlueStar

Abandoning earlier plans for a strategic alliance, Rhodia has agreed to sell its silicones business to Beijing-based China National BlueStar. The deal, which is expected to close in the next few months, values the business at about $500 million. Rhodia and BlueStar had been working since 2004 on an alliance that would have combined their silicones activities and built a silicone intermediates plant in Tianjin, China. Rhodia's silicones business had sales of about $525 million last year and operates plants in Saint-Fons and Roussillon, France. BlueStar calls itself China's largest organo-silicone producer. The sale will mark the second big exit from silicones this year. General Electric is selling GE Advanced Materials, a maker of silicone chemicals and quartz-based products, to Apollo Management for about $3.8 billion.