Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo, Japan, President and CEO, Chihiro Kanagawa) has reached an agreement with Clariant AG (Head Office: Muttenz, Switzerland, CEO Roland Loesser) to acquire the Cellulose Ethers Business of Clariant. The closing is subject to regulatory approvals. The purchase amount is 241 million euros (about 31 billion yen).

Clariant AG has its head office in Muttenz (a suburb of Basel), Switzerland. Clariant has a cellulose manufacturing facility in the suburbs of Frankfurt, Germany, and is the largest manufacturer of cellulose derivatives in Europe. Shin-Etsu Chemical's cellulose is mainly marketed for applications in the medical and industrial-use fields, whereas Clariant's cellulose is mainly for applications as building materials and is sold worldwide, with Europe being the key market.

This agreement came about because of a confluence of the two companies' business strategies: Shin-Etsu Chemical plans to expand its cellulose business in Europe by securing a major production base in Europe; on the other hand, Clariant plans to implement a strategy of selecting and focusing upon its other strong businesses.

Clariant's cellulose business, which Shin-Etsu Chemical is acquiring, has a production capacity of 27,000 tons/year of methylcellulose and 10,000 tons/year of hydroxyethylcellulose. When combined with Clariant's methylcellulose production capacity, Shin-Etsu Chemical's production capacity of methylcellulose will total 47,000 tons, making Shin-Etsu Chemical the No.1 methylcellulose manufacturer in the world.

The Cellulose business that Shin-Etsu is acquiring from Clariant will become a subsidiary under Shin-Etsu International Europe B.V., a Shin-Etsu Chemical Group company headquartered in the Netherlands.

Pulp is the primary raw material for the manufacture of cellulose derivatives. These products have wide applications including uses in the building and construction industries as well as in the medical and cosmetics fields.