BEACHWOOD, Ohio—Omnova Solutions Inc. has sold its Indian rubber production operation to India-based Apcotex Industries Ltd. for about $5 million.
It sold the unit, which recorded sales of about $28.2 million and a net loss of $400,000 in fiscal 2015, to focus more on it on its strategic priorities, including the acceleration of growth in its specialty businesses, according to Kevin McMullen, chairman and CEO of the Beachwood-headquartered company.
Those business units include specialty coatings, nonwovens, oil and gas additives, elastomeric modifiers, construction materials laminates and films, and coated fabrics, he said.
The deal includes a manufacturing facility in Valia, India, and its associated product lines: acrylonitrile butadiene rubber in bale form, high styrene rubber masterbatches and NBR-PVC polyblends.
Omnova said it will maintain its sales office in Mumbai, India, to manage the company's specialty polymers in the Indian market through imports from other Omnova plants in Asia, Europe and North America. “The Indian market remains important to us,” McMullen said.
The three rubber product lines involved in the transaction were part of the firm's acquisition of the Eliokem global specialty polymers business and did not fit well with the rest of Omnova's product portfolio, he said.