Belgian chemical company Solvay announced on September 19th that it had signed a binding agreement to sell its polyamide business (nylon) to the German chemical company BASF, which was the key transformation of Solvay to become a company targeted to special chemicals.

The deal includes Solvay¡äs upstream and downstream business of polyamide in Europe, North America and Asia, as well as its downstream engineering plastics business in Latin America. But Solvie will retain middle business in upstream and downstream textile business in Latin America.

According to the proposed terms of the agreement, the transaction, valued about 1.6 billion euros plans to complete in the third quarter of 2018.

BASF says the nylon business will be integrated into the performance materials and monomer sector. The acquisition will complete its engineering plastics business and strengthen its position as a solution provider of transportation, construction, industrial applications and consumer industry.