November 8, 2005-W. R. Grace & Co. (NYSE:GRA) announced today
that it has acquired the assets of Single-Site Catalysts, LLC (SSCL),
a supplier of organometallic catalysts, serving a variety of industries,
including polyolefins and elastomers, headquartered in Chester,
PA. The purchase includes customer agreements and intellectual property
for the manufacture of metallocenes and boron co-catalysts. Grace,
through its Davison Chemicals business segment, is a leading producer
of specially-designed catalysts for polyolefin and chemical catalyst
applications.
Organometallic single-site catalysts, especially metallocenes are
used to produce new grades of plastics, such as polyethylene and
polypropylene. They impart desirable qualities such as increased
impact strength and toughness, better melt characteristics, and
improved clarity in films. Single-site catalysts are being developed
for a wide range of other reactions including oligomerization, olefin
metathesis, hydrogenations, carbonylations, and oxidations.
