Kuraray Divesting Certain DuPont European Assets

To comply with EU restrictions on its takeover of the Glass Laminating / Vinyls (polyvinyl butyl, PVB) activities of US chemical producer DuPont, Japanese manmade fibers producer Kuraray has announced plans to divest certain of DuPont's European assets.

With effect from the beginning of 2015, the US group's production activities at Uentrop, Germany, and its R&D center at Mechelen, Belgium, are being sold for $12 million to Luxembourg-based private equity investor GVC, the European subsidiary of New Jersey, US-headquartered GVC Holdings, which is managed by former chemical company executives.

DuPont's PVB products are used mainly in automobile safety applications, including windshields.