Kemira to Sell Danish Distribution Business to Brenntag

Finnish water treatment chemicals specialist Kemira has agreed to sell its Danish distribution business with hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and caustic soda as well as solvents and packed coagulants to German distribution giant Brenntag for an undisclosed sum. The deal is planned to be completed in Q1 2014.

Sales of the business, currently part of Kemira's Municipal & Industrial segment, totaled €15 million in 2012. Brenntag said it will continue to operate the business from the existing facilities in Vejle, Kalundborg, Høsten in Denmark, as well as a new location in Copenhagen harbour.

Kemira said the divestment is well in line with its "sharpened strategy" presented earlier this year. It noted that the business is not an area of focus for its Municipal & Industrial segment, and that the sale will have a positive impact on the segment's EBIT margin. Denmark will remain an important market for the company, said Frank Wegener, the unit's president.

For Brenntag Denmark, the acquisition "will strengthen and expand our industrial chemicals product portfolio," said managing direct Torsten Walz. "Customers will benefit from the extended product portfolio, further investment in our infrastructure and new, long-term strategic supplier relationships."

In another move to improve profitability of the Municipal & Industrial segment, Kemira also recently sold its iron and aluminum coagulant business in Brazil to Bauminas while  simultaneously ramping up production of its new coagulant plant in Bayer's Chempark at Dormagen, Germany.

The plant, which uses the hydrochloric acid byproduct from Bayer's TDI process, produces the Finnish company's entire range of aluminum-based coagulants for drinking water and waste water treatment. It also is said to represent "an important step in consolidating Kemira's manufacturing footprint for coagulants in EMEA."