The purchase agreement was signed last week but the exact location of Elkem Silicones’ new investment south of Lyon is currently kept secret. Because it is close to its factories in Saint-Fons in the Rhône and Roussillon, in Isère, that the new production site of the specialist in tailor-made silicone solutions will be installed.
This was confirmed by Frédéric Jacquin, Managing Director of Elkem’s Silicones division, who hopes that the acquisition will be finalized “at best in six months”. The brand new production site was never put into action by the previous owner. It is acquired for a price “in millions of euros, slightly more than double digits”.
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“High added value products”
Elkem Silicones intends to produce there specialty silicones, organo-functional type (OFS), used in many fields such as cosmetics, from the end of this year. “We are on products with high added value”, continues the manager, who mentions a new bowstring from Elkem “in terms of technology”. Organo-functional silicones combine the performance of silicones with the functionality and potential reactivity of organic materials. The new site, which notably has industrial reactors, a devolatilization unit (purification of specialty polymers) and land for possible extensions, should accommodate between 10 and 20 employees.
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Elkem Silicones, which will also inaugurate its new R & D (research and development) center in Saint-Fons next May (25 million euros of investment), employs 850 people in the region: 100 at the head office in Lyon 3e, 600 in Saint-Fons and 150 at the Roussillon plant.
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