MUTTENZ, January 5, 2022 - Clariant, a focused, sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company, announced that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire BASF’s U.S. Attapulgite business assets for USD 60 million in cash, including the signing of a long-term supply agreement for attapulgite-based products to BASF. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in summer 2022.

BASF’s Attapulgite business is one of the largest attapulgite miners and producers in North America, with mining operations in Georgia and Florida and processing operations in Quincy, Florida. The business produces attapulgite-based products for a wide range of applications and end-markets. BASF’s business is well recognized in the industry for its unique combination of mineral quality, mine reserve size and strategic location.

Clariant is a technology leader in the purification of edible oils and renewable fuels. The transaction will substantially increase the Business Unit’s production capacity, thereby enhancing the ability to participate in the attractive edible oil and renewable fuels markets in the Americas. Clariant offers unique technology for the purification of edible oils and the pretreatment of feedstocks for the production of renewable fuels. With consumer preferences pivoting towards a diet with a higher vegetable oil content, clay adsorbent demand is poised to grow as they are crucial to remove undesired impurities in the refining process of these oils. With its first product pioneered over a century ago, Clariant’s flagship TONSIL® product range of high quality adsorbents is continually being developed and have become the gold standard for efficient purification of edible oils and fats.

The renewable fuels market in the Americas, based on waste streams like used cooking oils, tall oil, tallow, animal fats and distillers corn oil, is an attractive growth market. Adsorbent clays such as the TONSIL RNF product range are a crucial enabler for this industry as they play a key role in removing contaminants during the pretreatment stage of these waste fats, thereby protecting the catalyst and enabling a stable and economically viable process.
 

Structured as an asset deal with a cash purchase price of USD 60 million, the transaction includes the transfer of land & mining rights, the processing facility, and inventories, which will be integrated into Clariant’s Functional Minerals Business Unit. Clariant is pleased to welcome 75 highly qualified, dedicated employees. BASF’s Attapulgite business generated sales of approximately USD 36 million in 2020.The transaction will accrete to the Natural Resource’s EBITDA margin profile and will support Clariant on its path towards its recently announced 2025 targets. Customary closing actions, including merger notification and clearance filings as well as real estate title work are anticipated to result in a closing of the transaction in summer 2022.