Albemarle Corporate History

2000s

2000 - Albemarle and Jinhai Chemical and Industry Company, a Chinese company, announce the establishment of a Sino-foreign joint venture company for the manufacture, sale and export of specialty polymer stabilizers, flame retardants and selected fine chemicals named Ningbo Jinhai Albemarle Chemical and Industry Company, Limited.

2000 - Albemarle announces that the purchase of certain assets of Ferro Corporation's PYRO-CHEKŪ flame retardant business, along with a plant at Port-de-Bouc, France.

2000 - Albemarle, Cytec Industries Inc. (NYSE:CYT), and GE Specialty Chemicals, Inc., a subsidiary of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), announce their intention to form a new business-to-business internet joint venture, PolymerAdditives.com, LLC to provide a faster, more efficient way to buy complementary brand-name products and services directly from trusted suppliers.

2001 - Albemarle acquires Martinswerk GmbH, its manufacturing facilities and headquarters in Bergheim, Germany, and Martinswerk's 50% stake in Austrian joint venture Magnifin Magnesia Produkte GmbH. The deal complements Albemarle's polymer chemicals business with non-halogen, mineral-based flame retardants for the plastics and rubber markets, and adds brightening pigments for high-quality paper applications and specialty aluminum oxides for polishing, catalyst and niche ceramic applications.

2001 - Albemarle announces the completion of its acquisition of the custom and fine chemicals businesses of ChemFirst Inc. for $74 million, plus approximately $5 million to reflect changes in the working capital actually transferred versus assumed working capital at December 31, 2000. The Asset Purchase Agreement also provides for additional contingent payments to ChemFirst not expected to exceed $10 million. Albemarle's new businesses focus on the manufacture of custom and proprietary fine chemicals and chemical services for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries.

2003 - Albemarle acquires Ethyl Corporation's fuel and lubricant antioxidants business. The acquisition includes the family of antioxidants and blends used to extend the storage life and thermal stability of a broad range of fuel and lubricant products. The agreement also includes patents and other intellectual property related to the antioxidant chemistries.

2003 - Albemarle completes the acquisition of the phosphorus-based polyurethane flame retardants businesses of Rhodia. These products are used in rigid and flexible polyurethane foam applications. Albemarle also acquires Rhodia's ammonium polyphosphate product range, which has applications in textiles, timber and coatings. In this transaction, the company acquires a production site in Avonmouth, United Kingdom, and will be supplied with flame retardants and intermediates manufactured at Rhodia's sites in Charleston, S.C., and in Oldbury and Widnes in the United Kingdom.

2003 - Albemarle and Atofina S.A. (Paris) announce the completion of Albemarle's acquisition of Atofina's bromine fine chemicals business. The business had annual revenues of over $20 million. The transaction includes the transfer to Albemarle of Atofina's production site in Port de Bouc, France, and Atofina agrees to supply Albemarle with additional fine chemicals under a long-term agreement.

2004 - Albemarle acquires the business assets, customer lists and other tangibles of Taerim International Corporation (Taerim) and forms Albemarle Korea Corporation. Taerim was Albemarle's Korean distributor and representative for twelve years, and developed a substantial flame retardant chemical business. The acquisition significantly increases the company's presence in Korea and adds to the customer base via Taerim's stock sales business.

2004 - Albemarle Corporation acquires the refinery catalyst business of Akzo Nobel N.V. With this acquisition, Albemarle becomes one of the world's largest producers of hydro processing catalysts (HPC) and fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts used in the petroleum refining industry. Including joint ventures and Albemarle's current polyolefin catalyst business, the new Catalyst segment is expected to generate sales of roughly $680 million on an annual basis.

2007 - Albemarle Corporation acquires the mercury control products and services business of Sorbent Technologies. With this acquisition, Albemarle expands its clean energy portfolio.