Speciality chemicals producer Chemtura (Middlebury, Connecticut / USA; www.chemtura.com) has acquired the remaining stock of polyurethane technology company Baxenden Chemicals (Accrington / UK; www.baxchem.co.uk) from Croda International (Goole / UK; www.croda.com) for GBP 13m (about EUR 17.06m) in cash, increasing its ownership to 100%. The US company had previously held 53.5% of the stock. Chemtura said that Baxenden has strong technology platforms that dovetail with its existing high-performing urethanes business. Baxenden had sales in 2007 of around USD 70m. It employs 212 people at manufacturing facilities in Accrington and Droitwich / UK.

Robert Wedinger, chief business officer for Chemtura said: “Full ownership of Baxenden will permit better utilisation of the complementary technology and manufacturing experience of our businesses and will result in offering our customers a broader portfolio of products, technology and service. While we evaluated selling this joint venture, we determined that full ownership would create much more value through the integration of Baxenden’s and Chemtura’s broad capabilities.”