VanDeMark Chemical Inc. Acquires Framochem

VanDeMark Chemical Inc., Lockport, NY, the largest, independent manufacturer of phosgene and phosgene derivatives in North America, has acquired, Framochem Kft, a leading European-based manufacturer of phosgene products, based in Hungary.

The purchase unites two companies with complementary product offerings and creates one of the world’s largest, independent manufacturers of products based on phosgenation chemistry.  These compounds are widely used in the pharmaceutical, agricultural-chemical, personal care, polymer and fine chemical industries.

Michael Kucharski, CEO of VanDeMark Chemical, said, “This acquisition combines a North American leader with a European leader to give us greater size and scale across more geographies.  By combining these two companies, we are marrying VanDeMark’s particular strengths in the custom side of the market with Framochem’s substantial offering in the catalog chemical business – all of which makes a compelling, single-source offering for our customers for phosgene products worldwide.”

Christopher P. Fuller, managing partner of Uni-World Capital, VanDeMark’s largest private equity owner and sponsor of the transaction, added, “In a sense, we are reuniting these two companies – along with the business rationale and global customer base – since both VanDeMark and Framochem were originally part of the French state-owned enterprise SNPE.”

Framochem was a subsidiary of ISOCHEM S.A.S., a company of the Munich-based AURELIUS Group (ISIN DE000A0JK2A8). As part of the transaction, VanDeMark has also acquired a sales office in Germany, ISOCHEM Deutschland GmbH.

With a combined total of 22,000 tons in annual production capacity for phosgene, VanDeMark and Framochem together will be one of the world’s largest producers of fine chemicals focusing on phosgenation chemistry.

Located in the town of Kazincbarcika in Northern Hungary, Framochem employs more than 100 people and operates six multi-purpose production lines at its plant.

VanDeMark, which has produced phosgene and phosgene derivatives since 1951, offers a range of more than 30 chemical compounds used in the production of paints and coatings, pharmaceuticals, plastics and polymers, adhesives and sealants, agricultural products and other end markets. The company employs approximately 90 people at its plant.


To finance the Framochem acquisition, Uni-World secured senior debt financing from Madison Capital Funding and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, as well as mezzanine financing from Prudential Capital Group.

In addition, VanDeMark is raising new equity capital to fund the acquisition of Framochem.  Along with Uni-World itself and VanDeMark management, investors will include Prudential Capital Group, Hamilton Lane and Madison Capital Funding.  Uni-World will remain the largest and lead equity investor.