DSM Sells Michigan Manufacturing Facility to Albemarle

South Haven, MI (Sept. 20)-Albemarle Corporation (Richmond, VA, www.albemarle.com) signed an agreement with DSMPharmaceutical Products (Parsippany, NJ, www.dsm.com) to buy the assets and the fine chemistry services and pharma chemicals business associated with DSM's South Haven, Michigan facility.

The facility will become part of Albemarle's fine chemicals division, a provider of CGMP and non-GMP custom chemical manufacturing services, ingredients, and intermediates to the pharmaceutical industry.

DSM had announced in December 2005 its decision to close or divest the South Haven site, which is focused on the production of generic active pharmaceutical ingredients. This divestiture is part of DSM's asset-base restructuring, which also included the mothballing of the DSM Biologics facilities in Montreal, Canada in the beginning of 2006.

Completion of the acquisition is targeted for Sept. 30, 2006.