Arkema finalized the acquisition of Bostik, the world’s no. 3 in adhesives, on Feb. 2, 2015. With this acquisition, the Group reaches a new milestone in its development, and confirms its ambition to become a world leader in specialty chemicals and advanced materials. Bostik’s growth prospects and the complementarities identified between the two groups will sustain the success of this high value creating project.
With the acquisition of Bostik, Arkema fulfils a project that is perfectly aligned with its strategy to reinforce its position in specialty chemicals and further develop its High Performance Materials segment. Bostik, which will constitute a new business unit of this segment, holds leadership positions in most of its markets, has internationally recognized brands and technologies, and achieves around €1.5 billion sales with 4,900 employees in more than 40 countries.
“I firmly believe in the quality and the development potential of this company, which represents a promising growth platform for the future. I also want to thank everyone who, through their true professionalism, has helped finalize quickly the operation and its financing,” stated Thierry Le Hénaff, Arkema chairman and CEO.
The financing of this operation was successfully finalized early 2015 with a €700 million bond issue with a 1.5% coupon, and complements the hybrid bond issue conducted in October 2014 and the share capital increase completed in December 2014.
With the acquisition of Bostik, the new entity achieves sales of around €7.6 billion and employs some 19,000 people around the world.