Daelim Industrial announced on March 9 that it has completed the acquisition of the CariflexTM division of the U.S. company, Kraton.
Cariflex produces high-value added synthetic rubber and latex, which are mainly used as medical materials such as surgical gloves and main-use rubber caps.
With the acquisition, Daelim will also secure global sales organizations, human resources and sales rights, including Cariplex's Brazilian production plant, original technology including the Netherlands' R&D center. The total acquisition amount is $530 million (about 20 billion won).
The source technology for producing high-performance butadiene rubber is one of the new growth and original technologies selected by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance last month.
Daelim has developed a strategy to accelerate the expansion of its high value-added petrochemical business applicable to high-tech industrial sectors such as medical devices, space aviation and functional tires by merging independently developed technologies such as metallocene catalysts and cariflex's anion-based synthetic rubber production technology.
Daelim plans to establish an ecosystem of new medical materials industry by localizing medical materials that rely heavily on foreign technologies and imports. To this end, the company is considering investing in production plants in Korea while securing original technologies through technology development.
"The acquisition of Cariflex is a tangible result of Chairman Lee Hae-wook`s strategy to foster petrochemical and energy developer businesses," said Kim Sang-woo, vice chairman of Daelim.
