Detrex Corporation to Italmatch Chemicals within the end of the year

Under the terms of a merger agreement dated November 10, 2017, Detrex Corporation and Italmatch Chemicals Group jointly announced that they have entered into a plan of merger pursuant to which a newly formed subsidiary of Italmatch will acquire Detrex for 27 dollars a share in cash. The proposed merger is expected to close by December 31, 2017. Detrex is a Michigan corporation that manufactures high performance specialty chemicals serving three distinct business areas; namely additives for industrial petroleum products, high purity hydrochloric acid for the semiconductor industry, and specialty chemicals.

Thomas E. Mark, president and CEO of Detrex, said: “After thorough analysis, the board has unanimously endorsed this proposed sale, which we believe maximizes value for our stockholders. On behalf of the board, I would like to recognize our outstanding team of dedicated employees who have made Detrex and its operating subsidiary, The Elco Corporation, the success it is today. Elco and Italmatch share the same high operating standards and have a similar overall company culture. The board believes this is a great opportunity for Elco to be a part of an organization with deeper resources and operational scale in the specialty chemicals business. We look forward to working with Italmatch to promptly complete the transaction”.

Sergio Iorio, managing director of Italmatch Chemicals Group, said: “Italmatch Chemicals is a leading global specialty additives company with 340 million euros in sales and a strong focus and commitment, through R&D and innovation, on the industrial lube oil markets. We have known Elco, its products and management team for many years. Elco will bring highly complementary products, synergies and geographical aspects, as Italmatch is focused on Emea markets and Elco on North American and Latino American markets, with sales and organizational synergies in other regions. In addition, from a product portfolio point of view, Italmatch is a leader in special synthetic base stock and anti-wear additives, and Elco has a distinctive and very complementary position in EP additives and ad-pack for grease and MWF. We believe both companies share the same spirit and interest for innovation and we are confident of a bright future together”.