Chemtura Will Sell Oleochemicals Business

Continuing a yearlong restructuring, Chemtura has agreed to sell its oleochemicals business to PMC Group North America for an undisclosed sum. The Chemtura business had sales last year of about $175 million. It employs 260 people at a plant in Memphis, Tenn., and produces fatty acids, fatty esters, glycerin, glycerol esters, and other chemicals derived from fats and oils. Since the beginning of 2007, Chemtura has divested businesses in optical monomers, organic peroxides, and ethylene-propylene rubber. It also restructured its antioxidants business in Europe and announced a general restructuring that eliminated 620 jobs. In December, Chemtura announced that it hired Merrill Lynch to help it assess its strategic options, which could include a sale of the entire company. PMC was founded in 1994 by P. M. Chakrabarti, a former chief of technology at PPG Industries. Commenting on the purchase, Chakrabarti says chemicals and materials based on renewable feedstocks "will create a sustainable platform for new and exciting products."