Taking another step towards realigning its global strategy, A. Schulman (Akron, Ohio / USA; www.aschulman.com) said it had sold its former 70:30 Sunprene Company (Bellevue, Ohio / USA) joint venture with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation’s (MCC, Tokyo / Japan; www.m-kagaku.co.jp) US subsidiary Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers (MCPP, Greer, South Carolina) to the latter company. The two companies had dissolved and liquidated the jv in December last year – see Plasteurope.com of 15.11.2011 – transferring the existing business to MCPP. Since then, the Greer-based company had entrusted the site’s PVC compound output to A. Schulman.

The purchase price was not disclosed, although MCPP said the acquisition would include both manufacturing equipment and facilities in Bellevue, adding that the deal is expected to be completed by the end of November this year. The US arm of Mitsubishi Chemical said that once the acquisition had been completed, it plans to enter a wide variety of markets beyond the automotive sector, where PVC compounds are used for both interior and exterior components including wiring. Future plans include expanding the group’s existing thermoplastic elastomer business for both injection and extrusion applications, among others.

When announcing the sale of the Bellevue plant, part of its global strategy to shift to higher-value products and niche applications, A. Schulman said it had signed an agreement to acquire US plastics compounder ECM Plastics (Worcester, Massachusetts; www.ecmplastics.com) for USD 36.5m. The Akron-based company said it expects the deal to close in September. ECM specialises in custom colour matching, higher-value compounding and specialty additive formulations and last posted USD 40m in annual sales.