Solvay picked as preferred bidder to buy Korea’s Solus BioTech

[Source : Solvay]

Solvay, a Belgian multinational chemical company, has made a deal to acquire South Korea’s biomaterial maker Solus BioTech Co.

According to the investment banking industry on Wednesday, Skylake Investment, a Korean private equity firm, sought to sell a 100-percent stake in Solus BioTech owned by copper foil maker Solus Advanced Materials. It chose Solvay as the preferred bidder out of four participants, including BASF SE, the world’s largest chemical producer, and ADM Co., an American food processing giant.

The deal calls for the sale of all shares of Solus BioTech held by Solus Advanced Materials, which is estimated to be worth around 400 billion won ($314.6 million). Both sides will likely sign a share purchase agreement in January next year.

Solvay pursued the acquisition to expand its skincare business, as Solus BioTech is a major producer of natural ceramide for skincare and healthcare products.

Skylake Investment acquired a 52.9-percent stake in Solus Advanced Materials in 2020. A year later, the PE firm split the copper foil maker’s biomaterial unit to form Solus BioTech into a separate entity.