Merck seeking to revive pigments sale

Jul 24, 2023

A logo of drugs and chemicals group Merck KGaA is pictured in Darmstadt, Germany January 28, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

BERLIN, April 13 (Reuters) - Merck (MRCG.DE) is seeking to revive the sale of its pigments division, German business news outlet WirtschaftsWoche reported on Thursday, citing unnamed industry sources.

Previous attempts to sell the business, known as Surface Solutions, fell through during the pandemic.

Surface Solutions makes pigments to produce a pearlescent or metallic shine in coatings, plastics and cosmetics and could be valued at about 1 billion euros ($1.03 billion).

Merck said it had no comment on the report in an e-mailed statement.

Interested parties were able to submit non-binding offers for the pigments division until an April 12 deadline, the report said, adding that German specialty chemicals group Altana, a number of Chinese companies, and financial investors were among the potential buyers. Altana declined to comment, according to WirtschaftsWoche.

In November, Reuters reported that Merck had picked Goldman Sachs (GS.N) to revive the deal, with the sale expected to kick off this year once market conditions improved.

Merck's shares were up 2.7% at 1245 GMT, topping the German blue chip DAX index (.GDAXI).

Reporting by Friederike Heine, additional reporting by Andrey Sychev; Editing by Miranda Murray and Rachel More

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