Polyamide specialist Invista (Wichita, Kansas / USA; www.invista.com) has agreed to sell its Apparel & Advanced Textiles division to textile manufacturer Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding (Shandong / China; www.chinaruyi.com). The two companies have entered into a definite agreement, the US company said. Subject to regulatory clearances, the transaction is expected to close by mid-2018. The purchase price was not disclosed.

The transaction includes Invista's portfolio of apparel-focused PA fibres and brands including "Lycra" and "Coolmax", as well as its polytetramethylene ether glycols (PTMEG), 1,4-butanediol (BDO) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) production. All related manufacturing facilities, research and development centres and sales offices worldwide will be transferred to the new owner, Invista said. The workforce of roughly 3,000 employees will keep their jobs. Invista will retain the intellectual property rights for BDO, THF and PTMEG technologies, and will continue to license these technologies on a global basis.

"We look forward to intensifying our focus on the nylon value chain," said Jeff Gentry, Invista's chairman and CEO. The sale comes as no surprise. At the beginning of 2017, Invista said it was exploring strategic alternatives for this business unit. Finance group Goldman Sachs was retained to assist Invista in its evaluation (see Plasteurope.com of 09.03.2017).