Albemarle Corp. in Baton Rouge is selling its mineral flame retardants and specialty chemicals businesses to Huber Engineered Materials in Atlanta, a division of J.M. Huber Corp., a global manufacturer of flame retardant additives in Edison, New Jersey.

The price was not disclosed in the announcement late Wednesday.

The transaction includes Albemarle’s Martinswerk GmbH subsidiary and manufacturing facility located in Bergheim, Germany, and Albemarle’s 50 percent ownership interest in MAGNIFIN Magnesiaprodukte GmbH, a joint-venture with RHI AG at Breitenau, Austria.

“We continue to execute our plan to sell non-strategic businesses and assets, which will allow Albemarle to enhance our focus on growth opportunities within our core businesses,” said Albemarle President and CEO Luke Kissam. “This transaction supports our ongoing commitment to maximizing value for our shareholders and positions these businesses to extend their rich history of leadership and success.”

Earlier this year, Albemarle completed a $5.7 billion acquisition of lithium giant New Jersey-based Rockwood Holdings Inc. In August, Albemarle said it will move its headquarters and some operations from Baton Rouge to Charlotte, North Carolina. The moves will involve about 120 of the company’s employees overall, with almost all of those workers moving to Charlotte. About 60 to 80 of the total will be Baton Rouge employees, which will leave Albemarle with about 500 workers here. The majority of the moves are expected to take place in June.

Huber Engineered Materials focuses on engineered specialty ingredients for a range of industrial and consumer products.

http://theadvocate.com/news/14311028-113/albemarle-selling-flame-retardants-specialty-chemical-businesses-to-atlanta-company