MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Spartech Acquires BASF's Polystyrenes

BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has sold its specialty polystyrene business, which includes flame retardants and antistatic polystyrene specialty products, to Spartech Corp.'s (St. Louis, MO; www.spartech. com) subsidiary, Spartech Polycom SAS. Polystyrene production will be transferred from BASF's Ludwigshafen plant to Spartech's Donchery, France-based facility.

Albetnarle Augments Catalyst Assets

By the end of 2004, Albemarle Corp. (Richmond, VA; www.albemarle.com) will close a deal through which it will acquire Akzo Nobel's catalyst business for around $750 million in cash. Albemarle will transfer its current catalyst products into this business unit, which will operate independently alongside its fine-chemical and polymer-chemical groups. Polymer additives and flame retardants will be incorporated into the polymer chemical group, now called the "polymer additives" segment.