Crompton Corp. and Great Lakes Chemical Corp. finalized their $2 billion merger Friday. The new company, named Chemtura Corp., is the fourth-largest publicly traded specialty chemical company in the United States and one of the largest suppliers of chemicals used by the international lubricants industry. Chief Executive Officer Robert Wood rang the opening bell yesterday at the New York Stock Exchange, where the renamed company began trading underabbreviation CEM.
Taking up Cromptons headquarters in Middlebury, Conn., Chemtura consists of companies that had combined revenues of $3.7 billion in 2004. Among the materials it sells into the lubricants market are high-viscosity polyalphaolefins, greases, antioxidants, antiwear agents, sulfonates, flame retardants, extreme pressure additives, lubricity additives, pour-point depressants and viscosity modifiers.
In a separate announcement, Chemtura reiterated a previous statement that the June 24 divestiture of Cromptons Refined Products business will not affect Chemturas supply of natural sodium sulfonates. Those sulfonates, marketed under the Petronate brand name, are produced at an Amsterdam plant that was among the assets purchased last month by investment firm Sun Capital Partners Group Inc. Chemtura said it has signed a long-term agreement guaranteeing continued supply of the products and will keep employees at the Amsterdam plant to supervise production, customer service and delivery.
Sun Capital renamed the newly acquired business Sonneborn Inc.
The new Chemtura logo: