LANXESS to sell its stake in chrome ore mine in South Africa to Clover Alloys

Specialty chemicals company LANXESS sells its 74 percent stake in its chrome ore mine in Rustenburg/South Africa to Clover Alloys (SA) Proprietary Limited, a South African supplier of chrome fine ores. On November 15, 2019 both companies signed a corresponding agreement. The parties have agreed to not disclose the purchase price. The transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant authorities. LANXESS expects the planned sale to be completed by the end of 2020. A 26 percent shareholding in the mine will remain with DIRLEM, the minority shareholder representing employees and some private investors. LANXESS had already announced the divestment of its chrome chemicals business to the Chinese company Brother Enterprises in August.

“We have clearly focused our portfolio on specialty chemicals in recent years and are systematically continuing along this path. Following the sale of our chrome chemicals business, it is therefore strategically logical to also divest our stake in the chrome ore mine as a key source of raw materials for this business,” said Rainier van Roessel, Member of the Board of Management at LANXESS.

The chrome ore from the mine is used as a raw material in the ferrochrome and chemical industry and in foundry applications. The mine employs some 500 staff and more than 1000 contractors.
 

Forward-Looking Statements
This company release contains certain forward-looking statements, including assumptions, opinions, expectations and views of the company or cited from third party sources. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause the actual results, financial position, development or performance of LANXESS AG to differ materially from the estimations expressed or implied herein. LANXESS AG does not guarantee that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does it accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the opinions expressed in this presentation or the actual occurrence of the forecast developments. No representation or warranty (expressed or implied) is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, any information, estimates, targets and opinions, contained herein, and no liability whatsoever is accepted as to any errors, omissions or misstatements contained herein, and accordingly, no representative of LANXESS AG or any of its affiliated companies or any of such person’s officers, directors or employees accept any liability whatsoever arising directly or indirectly from the use of this document.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 7.2 billion in 2018. The company currently has about 15,500 employees in 33 countries and is represented at 60 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. LANXESS is listed in the leading sustainability indices Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World and Europe) and FTSE4Good.