Sika buys building-chemical rival Parex

Swiss adhesive and construction-chemical maker Sika has agreed to buy its French rival, Parex, for $2.6 billion from the private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners. The acquisition will add $1.2 billion in sales, bringing Sika’s overall annual sales to more than $8 billion. Sika’s CEO, Paul Schuler, told investors that his firm is also interested in BASF’s construction-chemical business, “but a complete takeover is not possible” for antitrust reasons, he said. The BASF unit, which went on the selling blockin October, had 2017 sales of $2.7 billion.