Mergers and acquisitions

BASF and Honeywell Announce Major Transactions

BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has agreed to purchase Honeywell International's (Morris Township, NJ; www.honeywell.com) worldwide engineering plastics business for $170 million. In a separate transaction, BASF will sell its worldwide

nylon fibers business to Honeywell for $80 million, which is to be paid within one year of the completion of the deal. The two transactions are expected to close during the first half of 2003. BASF will exit the fibers market and concentrate on its plastics business, which includes styrenics, polyurethanes and nylon intermediates. Honeywell's newly acquired nylon fibers business includes nylon 6 carpet fibers, textiles, research facilities, sales offices in North America, and Shanghai, and China-based BASF Hua Yuan Nylon Co. Honeywell also expects to increase the use of its caprolactam manufacturing facility in Hopewell, VA, which will supply feedstock to its new nylons business.

Rietschle and Thomas Join Forces

Rietschle GmbH (Schopfheim, Germany; www.rietschle.com) and Thomas Industries, Inc. (Louisville, KY; www.thomasindustries.com), two leading manufacturers of pumps and compressors, have merged. Coinciding with its new name, Rietschle Thomas, the firm has unveiled a new website at www.rtpumps.com.

K-Tron Acquires PA Crusher

K-Tron International, Inc. (Pitman, NJ; www.ktron.com) has invested $23.5 million to purchase Pennsylvania Crusher Corp. (PCC; Broomall, PA; www.penncrusher.com), a leading manufacturer of size-reduction equipment, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jeffrey Specialty Equipment Corp. (Woodruff, SC; www.jeffreycorp.com), a maker of industrial hammermills used to crush wood for the pulp and paper industry. K-Tron paid $19.5 million up front and will make annual installments from 2005 to 2007 to pay off the remaining $4 million.

Genencor Purchases Rhodia's Brewing and Enzyme Business

Genencor International, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA; www.genencor.com) has acquired Rhodia's (Boulogne-Billancourt Cedex, France; www.rhodia.com) brewing and enzyme business for approximately $9.6 million in cash, including technology, product lines and personnel. The enzymes are used to enhance the nutritional value of food products or modify the properties of fibers, proteins and starches during food processing.

Thames Water Buys American Water Works

American Water Works Co. (AWWC; Voorhees, NJ; www.amwater.com) has been acquired by Thames Water (Swindon, UK; www.thameswater.com), the water div. of RWE AG (Essen, Germany; www.rwe.com). Going forward, AWWC will oversee RWE's water business in North and South America.