Bayer MaterialScience (BMS, Leverkusen / Germany; www.bayerbms.com) is taking another step toward expansion of its polycarbonate sheet business, with the acquisition of the Arkema (Colombes / France; www.arkema.com) “Tuffak” activities. Financial terms of the deal set to close in May were not disclosed. The Bayer sub-group already has production facilities for the sheet in the US as well as in Mexico, Germany, Belgium, Italy, China, India, Korea and Australia. Principal applications are aerospace, transportation and heavy equipment.

The acquisition will not include Arkema’s production facilities. For a period of several months, the French company will continue to manufacture the sheet in a toll agreement with BMS, which later will integrate the products into its own US production lines at Sheffield, Massachusetts or Newark, Ohio. The US subsidiary of the German group told local media that the inclusion of the Arkema products would not necessarily lead to expansion of the facilities.

Adding Arkema’s established business will not only strengthen Bayer’s position in the growing North American PC sheet market, said Thomas Karl Kastner, global head of this business unit. It also will support the company’s strategic initiative to establish polycarbonate as the “product of choice” in the security glazing, mass transportation and signage markets. For more than 60 years, the Bayer group has been producing extruded thermoplastic sheet for use in architectural, security, transportation, industrial, signage and recreational applications.