Arkema Sells One Firm, Buys Another

Arkema is selling its vinyl compounding business in Vanzaghello, near Milan, Italy, to Italy's Industrie Generali. Arkema will focus its vinyl compounds range on high-tech applications, such as medical equipment, at its other site in Italy, also near Milan. Separately, the French company will acquire Enfield, Conn.-based Oxford Performance Materials, which specializes in poly(ether ketone ketone) technical polymers. Oxford had sales of about $2 million per year. "Arkema has had a long-standing interest in ultra-high-performance polymers that offer outstanding technical differentiation," Arkema CEO Thierry Le Hénaff says.