Westlake to acquire Hexion’s global epoxy business

Material supplier Westlake Chemical Corp. is acquiring chemical maker Hexion’s global epoxy business for approximately US$1.2 billion.

Based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Hexion’s epoxy business manufactures specialty resins, coatings, and composites for a variety of industries, including wind turbine blades and light-weight automotive structural components. In the twelve months ended Sept. 30, 2021, Hexion’s epoxy business had net sales of approximately US$1.5 billion.

With this transaction, which is anticipated to be completed in the first half of 2022 following customary closing conditions, Westlake says it will significantly expand its integrated business by adding a downstream portfolio of coatings and composite products to its leading chloro-vinyls businesses.

“Light-weighting is a critical feature for the manufacture of structural components for automobiles and for renewable energy, particularly the composite blades used by wind turbines, and epoxies are key ingredients for these sustainable products,” Westlake president and CEO Albert Chao said in a Nov. 24 news release. “The industries served by Hexion Epoxy are very attractive to Westlake and the business is expected to be a synergistic addition to Westlake’s existing businesses. We look forward to welcoming the Hexion epoxy employees to the Westlake family and realizing the tremendous opportunities to grow the combined businesses.”

Hexion Epoxy’s fully-integrated business includes upstream base epoxy resins and intermediates delivered as liquid or solid epoxy resins, as well downstream specialty epoxy resins used in coatings and composites. Hexion Epoxy operates globally on three continents with eight manufacturing facilities and five research and development labs located in Asia, Europe and the U.S., as well as tolling sites in Asia.