Joint venture targets titanium dioxide ( 24 May 2008 )

Rockwood and Kemira are joining forces to create a titanium dioxide business that will supply cosmetics manufacturers with specialty ingredients.Titanium dioxide is commonly used in cosmetics to reflect UV rays but it is also added to colour cosmetics to achieve the correct tone.

Aiming for the top

Both companies already produce the compound but by working together they claim they will be able to create a market leading business.

"It will be the leading provider of titanium dioxide pigments for textile, packaging ink and cosmetics industries worldwide," said Kemira CEO Harri Kerminen.

The new company will have its headquarters in Germany where both firms already have facilities.

On a pro forma basis, the new business had a turnover of €560m in 2007, and looking at the nuts and bolts behind the figures, it will have an estimated 17,000 employees and a production capacity of around 240,000 tons of titanium dioxide.

The deal is however still subject to approval from the competition authorities which is expected to close during the third quarter of 2008.

Ownership will be shared with Rockwood taking 61 per cent of the joint venture and Kemira the other 39 per cent.

Shared resources and knowledge

The specialty chemicals firms will benefit from the shared resources available and be able to draw on the experience that they have already built up in the titanium dioxide field.

"This joint venture is an excellent way of developing the value of our titanium dioxide business and it will provide a good platform for synergy creation," said Kerminen.

In the titanium dioxide market, Kemira has been active in recent months launching a pigment to add brightness and a refractive finish to colour cosmetics in March.

The company released the ingredient around a year after acquiring the titanium dioxide specialist TRI-K, which was fully integrated into the company in January this year. – Cosmetics Design