LONDON—Synthos S.A. has mostly completed the integration of Trinseo's synthetic rubber business, just eight months from its acquisition, according to group senior officials.
Completed Dec. 1, 2021, the nearly $400 million deal added Trinseo's styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) production site in Schkopau, Germany—with 440 employees—to Synthos' rubber production facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.
With the addition, Synthos' overall synthetic rubber capacity increased to around 820,000 metric tons per annum (820 ktpa), which will rise to 870 ktpa when two new butadiene rubber projects come on stream.
The main driver for the acquisition was Synthos' ambition to access higher-margin markets and expand its geographic footprint—as offered by Trinseo's solution SBR (SSBR) portfolio, including functionalized grades for use particularly in high-performance tires.
"We are putting together two organizations that were strong in product ranges that were non-overlapping," said Matteo Marchisio, director of BU synthetic rubber and tire materials, who likened the merger to "two tectonic plates" coming together.
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