Innospec to sell aroma chemicals unit

Innospec, Inc., an international specialty chemicals company headquartered in Englewood, Colo., U.S.A., announced on 8 June 2015 that it has reached an agreement to divest its aroma chemicals business unit (known as Innospec Widnes Limited) to Emerald Kalama Chemical, a business group of Emerald Performance Materials LLC. Emerald is headquartered in Kalama, Wash., U.S.A. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Patrick S. Williams, Innospec president and CEO, said, “We have been looking to focus more of our resources on our key businesses and markets that provide us with the best growth opportunities. We have felt for some time that we were unable to provide the aroma chemicals business with the support it needs to grow in this market. We believe that the business will flourish under ownership whose core strategic focus includes the aroma chemicals markets. We have made our strategy very clear. We will continue to focus on Fuel Specialties, Oilfield Specialties and Personal Care, where the markets remain attractive, and our strong commitment to technology development and customer service provides opportunities for future growth.”

The sale is expected to close by the end of July 2015. Innospec will use the proceeds from the sale for its balanced capital management program.