Swiss resins and speciality materials supplier AOC (Schaffhausen; www.aocresins.com) is to acquire the unsaturated polyester resin manufacturing operations at the headquarters site of Czech Producer Spolchemie (Ústí nad Labem; www.spolchemie.cz). In addition to the UPR production equipment, the plant has capabilities for manufacturing resins based on rPET. Spolchemie already produces resins for AOC on a contract basis at the site.

The Swiss supplier said the plant will enable it to improve its service and logistics operations for customers in Central and Eastern Europe. It will also allow the company to produce new products, such as those based on rPET, for customers across Europe. Stefan Osterwind, AOC MD for EMEA, added, “This will also help to strengthen the product portfolio we can offer to the region, including our broad range of speciality resins. At the same time, the products based on rPET will become available to more customers across the European continent.”

AOC, Spolchemie and investment group Kaprain signed an agreement on 15 October 2020 to transfer the operations to the Swiss supplier, with the transfer to become effective as soon as possible in Q4 2020. Kaprain CEO Romana Benešová said the divestment will allow Spolchemie to focus on its core business of chlorinated hydrocarbons and epoxy resins.