Chemtura approves Lanxess deal

COLOGNE, Germany—Chemtura Corp.'s shareholders have approved a deal for Lanxess A.G. to acquire the company for about $2.5 billion.

Lanxess said in a Feb. 1 news release that 99.9 percent of the votes cast were in favor of the merger, representing 81.8 percent of Chemtura's outstanding common stock. Shareholders will receive $33.5 in cash for each outstanding share at closing of the transaction.

"We are pleased that Chemtura's shareholders are so supportive of the planned acquisition," Lanxess CEO Matthias Zachert said in a statement. "Their approval is an important milestone on Lanxess' route to becoming one of the major players in the field of additives chemistry."

U.S. antitrust authorities approved the acquisition at the end of December, Lanxess said. It added that it projects to close the deal in mid-2017 after all remaining regulatory approvals have been received. Once closed, Chemtura's flame retardant and lubricant additives will be integrated with Lanxess' Rhein Chemie Additives business unit to form a new segment, tripling the size of Lanxess' current unit to about $2.7 billion in sales.

Chemtura's other assets will also be integrated into Lanxess. Its urethanes business will merge into Lanxess' High Performance Materials segment and its organometallics business will fit into Lanxess' Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit as an additional business line.

Lanxess reported sales of $8.48 billion in 2015 with about 16,700 employees in 29 countries and 54 global production sites.