Shareholders of US additives specialist Chemtura have given the green light for the company to be acquired by Germany’s Lanxess. In September of last year, the German company announced it had signed a “definitive” agreement to clinch the deal for $2.5 billion, or $33.50 per share. The sum represented a premium of nearly 19% over the closing share price of $28.18 on the day of the agreement.

Altogether, 99.88% votes cast at a Chemtura special meeting on Feb. 1 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – representing 81.77% of the US company’s outstanding common stock – were in favor of the merger. Lanxess CEO Matthias Zachert said the transaction is still on track to close in mid-2017 following all regulatory approvals. Clearance for the acquisition from US antitrust authorities was received at the end of December.

Craig A. Rogerson, president, CEO and chairman of Chemtura’s board of directors, said the company is pleased that its stockholders “recognize the immediate and substantial value of this compelling transaction.”

The acquisition will be the largest in the history of Lanxess, which was founded in 2004 as a spin-off of the Bayer Chemicals division and floated on the Frankfurt stock exchange a year later. It will give the German company a much larger footprint in North America and at the same time broaden its existing additives portfolio.

The offer for Chemtura, which was founded in 2005 through a merger of US companies Great Lakes and Crompton – was made financially possible by the sale of a major chunk of Lanxess’ synthetic rubber business to Saudi Aramco last year. The business now trades as Arlanxeo.

After closing, the two main pillars of Chemtura’s portfolio – lubricants and additives – will be integrated into Lanxess’s Rhein Chemie Additives business unit to form a new Performance Additives segment, deepening the German company’s vertical integration. With around 1,600 employees at more than 20 worldwide locations, Rhein Chemie already supplies specialty additives and service products for the plastics, rubber, lubricants and colorants sectors.

The Chemtura urethanes business, which produces precursors for specialty polyurethanes, will be integrated into Lanxess’ High Performance Materials segment, which also includes engineering plastics PA and PBT. The US player company is also a major producer of organometallics, used as catalysts in polymer production and for synthesis of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals. This business will become part of Lanxess’ Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit.