Petronas buys the specialty chemical maker Da Vinci Group

In an effort to diversify into specialty chemicals, Malaysia’s Petronas Chemicals has agreed to purchase the Dutch firm Da Vinci Group for $163 million from the private equity firm Bencis Capital Partners and other shareholders. Da Vinci operates as BRB, which makes silicones, lube-oil additives, and other chemicals. It has annual sales of about $250 million. Petronas says this is its first acquisition in specialty chemicals, though it has made organic investments such as the citral and citronellol plants it opened in Kuantan, Malaysia, in 2016, with partner BASF.