Dorf Ketal Chemicals, the Mumbai-based speciality chemicals company, which recently acquired the global speciality catalysts business of DuPont Chemicals and Fluroproducts, is gearing up for another acquisition, this time in the US.
The company is in discussions with a US-based innovative products specialty company and the deal may happen within a few months, said Subodh Menon, founder-director and head of business and operations, Dorf Ketal. He said the deal size could be in the range of $75 million (Rs 340 crore).
“We are targeting acquisitions and expansions worth about Rs 1,000 crore in the coming one to two years as part of our strategy to become an integrated specialty chemical player across various industries and to de-risk our dependence on the oil and gas sector,” he said.
Automotive coatings and chemicals for water treatment are some of the new areas identified for growth. Dorf Ketal is in discussions with several players abroad for acquisitions in these fields, he added.
His family-owned Dorf Ketal, with a turnover of Rs 1,100 crore, is a leading global player in process chemicals and additives for refineries, petrochemicals, fuels, plastics, lubricants and oilfield industries. Earlier, Dorf Ketal had acquired ExxonMobil’s component lubricant additives business in 2007 and UOP’s plastics additives business in 2003. The 18-year-old company has subsidiaries in the US, Brazil and the Netherlands, and offices in China and Bahrain.
Menon said the company would fund the expansions through a combination of internal accruals and debt. It may also explore the option of going public within the next two years.
Dorf Ketal is constructing a new 10,000-tonne speciality chemicals plant at a special economic zone in Mundra, Gujarat, with an investment of about Rs 100 crore. In the next phase, its capacity will be raised by another 15,000 tonnes. Currently, Dorf Ketal has large manufacturing facilities at Taloja near Mumbai and at Dadra, besides the manufacturing units of acquired facilities abroad.
He said the acquisition of DuPont Chemicals and Fluroproducts would provide Dorf Ketal with several product innovations and technological developments pioneered by DuPont in the business since the 1960’s. Its Tyzor range of organic titanates and zirconates are used as catalysts for chemical manufacture across various industries.
