BASF selling PVC modifier business to Japan’s Kaneka

Germany-based chemical maker BASF is selling its Vinuran polyvinyl chloride (PVC) modifier business to Japanese materials maker Kaneka Corporation.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed; the closing of the transaction is expected to take place during the first quarter of 2014.

BASF is selling its inventory and customer list to Kaneka; BASF’s plant based at Ludwigshafen, Germany, which produces the modifiers, and its employees are not part of the transaction.

Vinuran is an acrylate-based PVC modifier which is used with PVC in weatherproof panels, films, and profile sections in the construction sector. In a press release, BASF said Vinuran “is not a core business” for the firm but that it “represents a good strategic fit” for Kaneka, which is headquartered in Osaka.

The transaction “allows BASF to focus on growth of its acrylate-based dispersions portfolio,” the company added.