Sachtleben to acquire the TiO2 production assets and inventory of Crenox GmbH

Rockwood Holdings, Inc. announced that its titanium dioxide venture Sachtleben has reached an agreement to acquire the titanium dioxide production assets and inventory of Crenox GmbH, based in Krefeld, Germany. The acquisition is expected to close by mid-July.

Sachtleben, which is a venture of Rockwood and Kemira Oyj, will acquire the Crenox Krefeld- Uerdingen plant and all inventory of the facility. The acquisition will add over 100,000 metric tons of titanium dioxide production, increasing capacity to approximately 340,000 metric tons.

The acquisition will strengthen Sachtleben’s position in sulfate process titanium dioxide, used at both existing Sachtleben facilities (Duisburg, Germany and Pori, Finland) as well as the Crenox plant. The sulfate process provides flexibility to manufacture both anatase and rutile crystal forms of TiO2 targeted to attractive niche market applications such as synthetic fiber production and cosmetics, as well as for higher volume applications in the paints, coatings and plastic markets.