ALTANA has signed an agreement to acquire the Color Chemie Group. The chemical company, which is headquartered in Büdingen, Hesse, Germany, mainly produces environmentally friendly, water-based specialty printing inks and offers related services to its customers. Color Chemie’s printing inks are primarily used for packaging boxes, but also on foils, carrier bags, gift wrapping papers and wallpapers.
In 2010, the Color Chemie Group achieved sales of €46 million with about 150 employees. In addition to Büdingen, the company has production sites in Bonn, Germany, as well as in Austria, France and Poland. Color Chemie will be integrated into the ALTANA division ACTEGA Coatings & Sealants. The transaction is subject to approval by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office.
“Like ALTANA, Color Chemie focuses on products and services in technologically demanding niche markets and therefore fits excellently into our portfolio,“ stated Dr. Matthias L. Wolfgruber, CEO of ALTANA.
Dr. Wolfgruber regards the acquisition as a large and important element in the context of ALTANA’s acquisition policy. “We want to continue our profitable growth. Besides our operating business, targeted acquisitions will make a decisive contribution to this growth course,“ continued Dr. Wolfgruber.
“The acquisition of Color Chemie will further strengthen our market position in the area of specialty printing inks for the packaging industry,“ underlined Dr. Guido Forstbach, president Division ACTEGA. He pointed out that against the background of ever increasing environmental protection requirements the water-based products have a high market potential. “Color Chemie’s range of products therefore optimally complements our existing activities in the area of packaging printing. At the same time, due to the division’s global presence, ACTEGA opens up further growth opportunities for the products of Color Chemie.”