Specialty chemicals company Platform Specialty Products Corp has signed a "definitive agreement" to buy rival Arysta LifeScience for about $3.51 billion from an unnamed company backed by private equity investor Permira.

Platform said it expects the deal to be "highly complementary" to its own crop protection businesses and immediately add to adjusted earnings per share.

Arysta is a global provider of agrochemical and biological products with 3,600 product registrations in more than 100 countries. Its agrochemical and biosolutions portfolio includes insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, biostimulants and value-added nutrients.

The company reported net sales of $1.5 billion in 2013, with a strong performance in Latin America and Africa.

Rather than directly manufacturing active ingredients, Arysta sources these from more than 100 suppliers to develop highly-specialized formulations and product applications.

"This flexible supply chain model," the company said, "optimizes its cost structure and capital requirements as well as enhancing its ability to adapt to market changes."

Arysta CEO Wayne Hewett is expected to join Platform's senior leadership team as president and also lead Platform's three agrochemical businesses in cooperation with the management teams from Chemtura AgroSolutions (CAS) and Agriphar, acquired on Oct. 1.