Omnova To Buy Eliokem From AXA

Omnova Solutions has signed an agreement with AXA Private Equity to acquire French specialty chemical maker Eliokem for $300 million. Omnova says the buy will boost its annual sales to more than $1 billion and make it a more diverse specialty chemical maker. The purchase will also join chemical operations that were formerly part of two tire firms: Omnova was spun out of GenCorp in 1999, and Eliokem was once part of Goodyear Tire & Rubber. The U.S. private equity firm Littlejohn & Co. acquired Eliokem from Goodyear in 2001 for an undisclosed sum. AXA picked up Eliokem in 2006 for about $165 million. Eliokem makes coating resins, elastomer modifiers, and antioxidants and has annual sales of about $270 million.