Lord buys Henkel's rubber-to-metal bonding business

By Liz White, ERJ staff

Cary, North Carolina- Lord Corp. has signed an agreement to purchase the rubber-to-substrate bonding and rubber coating business of Henkel KGaA of Düsseldorf, Germany.

The transaction is subject to closing conditions, including antitrust approvals, said Lord's 7 March announcement on the deal.

Lord and Henkel have previously had a long-term licensing agreement under which the German firm sold rubber-to-metal bonding agents made to Lord's technology under the Chemosil name in Europe. Lord sells these products under the Chemlok name in the rest of the world. This license was due to expire in 2010.

Worldwide there are a limited number of suppliers of rubber-to-metal bonding agents: the list includes Lord, Rohm and Haas Co., UK-based CIL and Henkel. Some smaller, suppliers may offer a limited product range in their local markets.

Lord said the business Henkel is selling, "primarily serves automotive and industrial manufacturers of rubber moulded and extruded components." It includes the trade names Chemosil, Flocksil, Cuvertin and Sipiol.

Lord expects that any Henkel employees in technical and commercial areas "who have been primarily dedicated to this business" will transfer to Lord Corp. subsidiaries.

"The acquisition of this important business from Henkel will allow us to better serve our global customers in the European region and is in line with the strategic commitment Lord Corporation has to the European region in all areas of activities," said Rick McNeel, president and ceo of Lord Corp. in the company's announcement.

The deal will also allow Lord to combine its technologies "for high-volume, automotive and industrial noise vibration harshness (NVH) device manufacturers to resolve many of the challenges prevalent in the European and global markets," added Eric Ravinowich, regional director, Lord Corp. (Europe) Ltd.

Cary-headquartered Lord Corp. said its annual sales are more than $550-million for 2005. The privately held company makes devices and systems to manage mechanical motion and control noise and vibration. Lord also makes general-purpose and speciality adhesives and coatings. Another business area is systems utilising magnetically responsive technologies.

The group manufactures in eight countries and has offices in more than 15 major business centres, employing more than 2400 worldwide.