ALTANA Chemie Acquires Rad-Cure Corporation

ALTANA Chemie AG signed an agreement on Jan. 31 to acquire Rad-Cure Corporation, a specialist in the field of overprint UV curable coatings and adhesives for the paper and board packaging sector. The completion of the transaction is planned for the first quarter 2006.

With this acquisition in the packaging materials area, ALTANA Chemie will further strengthen its market presence in North America after the recent acquisition of Kelstar, and has taken another step for the consolidation of its Coatings & Sealants division.

Rad-Cure, headquartered in Fairfield, New Jersey, generated sales of approximately US$10 million in 2005. ALTANA Chemie will take over the market specialist for packaging, including all employees and production assets. Details of the sales price have not been disclosed.

“The acquisition of Rad-Cure is an additional step to further strengthen the Division’s footprint in the specialized packaging coatings area,” said Dr. Guido Forstbach, president, Division Coatings & Sealants. “Rad-Cure allows us to enrich our UV and adhesives product portfolio in the U.S. market with well recognized technology. The business is – like all ALTANA Chemie businesses – strongly innovation- and service-oriented and fits perfectly into the overall strategy.”

“With this acquisition, we are strengthening the Division Coatings & Sealants in North America with a complementary market access and thereby continue to enhance our global position in the area of packaging coating,” said Dr. Matthias L. Wolfgruber, member of the management board of ALTANA AG and president and CEO of ALTANA Chemie AG. “The acquisition of Rad-Cure opens up new possibilities in the label printing market, which is a valuable asset to our ‘graphic arts’ operation within ALTANA Coatings & Sealants.”