In a deal that expands its portfolio downstream, India’s Manali Petrochemicals (Chennai; www.manalipetro.com) has paid GBP 13.5m (EUR 15m) to acquire Notedome (Coventry / UK; www.notedome.com), a manufacturer of high performance cast polyurethane elastomers sold under the “Neuthane” trademark. The acquisition financed through cash and bank loans was transacted by Amchem Speciality Systems UK, a subsidiary of group holding Amchem Speciality Systems Private Limited (Singapore). It followed the Manali board of directors’ approval last month of management’s plans to invest USD 15m in Amchem to stem the buy.

Manali said the takeover of the UK polyurethanes specialist will facilitate its expansion plans, which reflect efforts to invest in new technologies that will strengthen the efficiency of its existing systems and applications and meet the requirements of its global customer base. In particular, said Muthukrishnan Ravi, the company’s managing director, it will open the UK and the wider European markets to Manali’s products while at the same time extending its offerings in the Indian domestic market.

Earlier this year, the Indian company opened an application centre in Chennai focused on developing and improving its PU systems portfolio. It has also announced plans to set up new application centres in Singapore in the next 8-12 months, with more such facilities to be added in Doha and Europe sometime later. Up to now, Manali has been positioned primarily at the upstream end of the polyurethanes market, operating production facilities for propylene oxide, propylene glycols and polyols at Manali / India.

Notedome, founded in 1979, is a focused system house selling to customers in 45 countries worldwide. Its polyurethane products, which include MDI prepolymers and TDI systems, are used across a diverse range of industries and applications, with a special focus on the mobility sector – anti-roll bars, suspension and shock bushes for buses, trucks and other high performance vehicles. The British company supplies the agriculture sector with rollers, harvester components and idler wheels on track-laying tractors.