Celanese to acquire majority of DuPont’s mobility and materials business

About half of the DuPont M&M plastics portfolio being acquired by Celanese is aimed at automotive. Much of the rest is for electrical/electronics. Photo Credit: DuPont

Celanese Corp. (Irving, Texas, U.S.) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority of the Mobility & Materials (M&M) business of DuPont (Wilmington, Del., U.S.) for $11.0 billion in cash, which will be added to Celanese’s Engineering Materials (EM) business. The transaction is expected to close around the end of 2022. Celanese will acquire numerous DuPont engineering thermoplastic brands and technologies, and customer and supplier contracts and agreements, as well as a global production network of 29 facilities, including compounding and polymerization plants, and around 5,000 employees. This will effectively double the size of Celanese EM and make it a leader in nearly a dozen polymers globally, according to the company.

Core markets for Celanese EM are medical, advanced mobility, electrical and 5G. A little over half of the DuPont M&M product portfolio is devoted to automotive, with a growing focus on electrical vehicles (EVs). Another quarter of the business is in electrical/electronics. DuPont M&M products to be acquired include Zytel nylon 6, 66, PPA, Selar barrier resin and other specialty nylons; Crastin PBT and Rynite PET; and Hytrel copolyester TPE. Not included in the acquisition are DuPont’s Delrin acetal (POM), Multibase products, Tedlar PVF and automotive adhesives and fluids. One historical footnote: In relinquishing its Zytel nylons, DuPont is capping a long history with that material, which DuPont was the first to commercialize in 1939, after its scientist Wallace Carothers invented nylon in 1935.

The acquired DuPont products will be added to the Celanese EM existing portfolio of Celanyl, Frianyl and Ecomid nylons 6 and 66, PPA and specialty nylons; Celanex and Vandar PBT; Impet PET; Thermx PCT; Vectra and Zenite LCP; Hostaform and Celcon acetal; Forton PPS: Pibiflex and Riteflex copolyester TPE; Forflex TPO; Santoprene and Forprene TPV; Sofprene and Laprene styrenic TPEs; GUR UHMW-PE; Celstran and Compel continuous-fiber and long-fiber compounds; Polifor PP compounds, and the extensive Omni Plastics line of engineering thermoplastic compounds.