Prayon S.A. (Engis, Belgium) announced the successful acquisition from Arkema SA (Colombes, France) of its shares in Febex, the European market leader for phosphoric acid in the electronics industry.
With 97% of the shares held, Prayon becomes the majority shareholder in the company based in Bex, Switzerland, which employs around 60 people with a turnover of €32 million in 2021. Febex is the European leader in the production and sale of electronic-grade phosphoric acid used, for example, in the manufacture of printed circuits and semiconductors. With its ultra-pure phosphoric acid and state-of-the-art facilities, it also offers solutions that meet the highest standards of the pharmaceutical industry.
This acquisition marks an important step in strengthening Prayon’s position in phosphorus chemistry. The Group enters the electronics market, which has strong growth potential in Europe and the United States. It also enables the Group to enter the pharmaceutical sector, gain access to the polyphosphoric acid market and broaden the range of industrial solutions downstream of purified phosphoric acid production, in which the Group remains the strong European leader.
“We are delighted to welcome Febex’s teams in the Prayon Group, to pool our expertise in phosphorus chemistry and to study together the opportunities for growth beyond our existing activities,” commented Geoffrey Close, Prayon’s CEO.