Kemira sells its global FWA business

Reported in the press this morning:

Kemira Oyj and German Catec GmbH financially supported by Fengler Beteiligungs GmbH have signed a contract, according to which Kemira sells its global Fluorescent Whitening Agents (FWAs) business to Catec. FWAs improve the whiteness and brightness of paper. The deal covers a production plant in Leverkusen, Germany, the global FWA sales network and the associated support functions. The FWA business and its staff of about 100 persons will be transferred to the new owner once the companies have closed the transaction in August 2010.

The transaction does not have any significant impact on Kemira's financial figures, and the parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction price.

"Kemira is focusing according to its strategy on products and services that enhance the water quality and quantity management in the water intensive industries such as pulp and paper industry. Exiting FWA business is in line with our strategy to enhance the product lines which are common for all our segments and on which we are building our competitiveness", states Petri Helsky, head of Paper segment.

FWAs or OBAs are widely used in the paper industry for producing white paper. A low-margin, commodity business where the major companies, BASF (Ciba), Clariant and Kemira have struggled to compete against quality market entrants from China and India.