After having received the approval by the German and British antitrust authorities, Altana AG will now complete the acquisition of the worldwide effect pigments business of the British company Wolstenholme Group Ltd. With immediate effect Wolstenholme’s business activities will be transferred to Altana. The purchase price for the business amounts to €24 million.
Altana is acquiring Wolstenholme’s business with bronze and aluminum pigments as well as printing inks based on these pigments for the graphic arts, coatings and plastics industries. In 2006, Wolstenholme achieved sales of approximately €29 million in this business area. The business will be integrated into the Altana division Eckart Effect Pigments, which generated sales of €339 million in 2006. Altana will not take over Wolstenholme’s production plants and employees in Great Britain and the U.S. Instead, Eckart has plans to increase production capacities in its main factory in Güntersthal, Bavaria by investing €10 million in the medium term.