Lanxess has agreed to acquire two businesses from Flexsys, a division of U.S.-based Solutia Inc. (St. Louis, Mo.) to strengthen the portfolio of its Rubber Chemicals business unit.

Lanxess will acquire the primary accelerator business as well as the anti-reversion agent Perkalink 900. Employees will not be transferred to Lanxess. Both parties have decided not to disclose the acquisition prices. The acquisition of the primary accelerator business requires approval from the relevant antitrust authorities.

Lanxess will take over selected parts of Flexsys' primary accelerators business and integrate them into its existing production facilities in Kallo, Belgium, and Bushy Park, S.C.  Lanxess is already a leading supplier of primary accelerators, with its Vulkacit brand, and has invested €10 million over the last two years to upgrade its Kallo world-scale plant.

Accelerators help determine the speed of the vulcanization process and help to achieve the desired properties of the finished rubber product. Vulcanization is a chemical process for converting rubber into more durable materials via the addition of sulfur.

In addition, Lanxess will take over from Flexsys the anti-reversion agent Perkalink 900. It is one of the leading products to avoid the risk of reversion during the vulcanization process and thus improve the service life of tires, as well as other technical rubber products. It also complements Lanxess' existing specialties portfolio, which includes products such as the anti-reversion agent Vulcuren.