Home » Ashland’s SP&A Acquires Adhesive Business for $92 Million

Ashland’s SP&A Acquires Adhesive Business for $92 Million

By wmadministrator

Ashland Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the pressure-sensitive adhesive business and atmospheric emulsions business of Air Products and Chemicals Inc. for $92 million.

The purchase includes manufacturing facilities in Elkton, Md., and Piedmont, S.C. The newly acquired operations will merge into Ashland’s Specialty Polymers and Adhesives (SP&A) business group.

“This is a highly desirable strategic fit with our resins growth platform and our present business in the adhesives and coatings market space,” said James J. O’Brien, Ashland’s chairman and chief executive officer. “It meets our objectives for adding scale in a targeted segment that has expectations for above-average growth and attractive margins.”

Marcello Boldrini, vice president of Ashland Performance Materials and general manager of SP&A, said the acquired operations include both acrylic and polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) technologies supporting Ashland’s sales into paper and film labels, adhesives and sealants, pulp and paper, coatings and woodworking industries.

Covington-based Ashland was started in 1924 as a regional petroleum refiner but is now a Fortune 500 diversified chemical company with sales and operations in more than 100 countries worldwide. The company operates four divisions: Ashland Performance Materials, Ashland Distribution, Valvoline and Ashland Water Technologies.