UK specialty chemicals company Thomas Swan has bought a manufacturing facility in Opelika, Alabama, USA, from Apollo Chemicals, part of Mount Vernon Chemicals. Financial details were not disclosed.

Commenting on the acquisition, Tom Porter, business director of Thomas Swan's Custom Manufacturing division, said: “Existing custom manufacturing customers have asked us to add US manufacturing capability, providing a strong business case for this acquisition. We will shortly commence the process of fitting it out to allow significant room for sales growth, with the site capable of large future expansions in addition to the current plans.”

County Durham-based Swan will give the facility a major overhaul and upgrade, turning it into a flexible plant for the custom manufacture of specialty chemicals. The design will include significant glass-lined reactor capacity, something that Thomas Swan's managing director, Harry Swan, said is rare in the US, especially at the mid-scale range the company offers.

The plant will provide glass-lined, fully acid-resistant production and distillation capabilities up to 10m³ for performing a wide range of chemistries including complex polymerization under inert conditions, as well as stainless steel reactor and distillation capabilities up to 8m³ for performing high pH chemistries.