Bayer sells its interest in titanium dioxide joint venture
Bayer has sold its 20 percent minority interest in Kerr-McGee Pigments GmbH & Co. KG, Krefeld to Kerr-McGee Chemical GmbH, Krefeld, a subsidiary of Kerr-McGee Chemical LLC of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. Kerr-McGee already owned an 80 percent majority interest in the joint venture, established in 1998, to which Bayer transferred its titanium dioxide business. At that time Kerr-McGee was given an option to acquire the remaining shares after the end of 2000. Bayer's income from the sale is approximately EUR 25 million. The divestment is consistent with Bayer's strategy of optimizing its portfolio in order to focus on its core activities.
At the beginning of 1998 Bayer sought to achieve a sustained improvement in the competitive position of its titanium dioxide business unit in the face of difficult market conditions. In Kerr-McGee, with its global titanium dioxide business, Bayer found a partner that offers the business good long-term prospects from both the economic and technological points of view, thereby safeguarding the future of the production facilities at Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany and Antwerp, Belgium.
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