Apcotex buys emulsion polymers maker Omnova Solutions

Apcotex Industries, one of the leading producers of performance emulsion polymers in India, has acquired 100-percent stake of Omnova Solutions India Pvt Ltd (OSIPL), the Indian arm of US-based specialty company Omnova Solutions Inc, for Rs 36 crore. This is aligned to Apcotex’s long term strategy to tap the full potential of the emulsion polymers industry, through organic and inorganic growth.
 
Omnova Solutions is the only producer of nitrile rubber in India and only the second producer of high styrene rubber after Apcotex. Omnova Solutions has a factory in Valia (Gujarat), which it acquired in 2010 from France's Eliokem International. The French firm had bought the plant from Apar Industries in 2008.
 
The acquisition gives Apcotex an opportunity to grow in new adjacencies in emulsion polymers such as nitrile rubber, nitrile powder and nitrile/PVC blends, which find application in automotive components, rice de-husking rolls, rubber hoses, moulded rubber products, and other industrial products.
 
Apcotex plans to invest around additional Rs 40 crores in the acquired business in the short to medium term. “This sizable bolt-on acquisition bolsters our optimism about the long term value creation potential of Apcotex. We gain access to new product lines, technologies and processes with a potential to scale up significantly," said Abhiraj Choksey, managing director, Apcotex.
 
Apcotex Industries, which has a manufacturing facility at Taloja (Maharashtra) produces performance emulsion polymers, which are used in paper, carpet, construction, paints, textile, automotive components, footwear, etc.