Mobay Corp. to Buy Denka Chemical Corp.

Mobay Corp., a subsidiary of Bayer USA Inc., said it has agreed to acquire Denka Chemical Corp. of Houston for an undisclosed sum.

Denka, which has sales of nearly $100 million and employs about 400 workers, has plants in Houston; Duluth, Minn.; Carteret, N.J., and Little Ferry, N.J.

Denka manufactures polychloroprene rubber used in the rubber industry; maleic andydride and its derivatives used in the food and soft drink industries; and tetrahydrophthalic anhydride, which is used to make fire-retardant polyester resins, according to Mobay spokesman Gerd Wilcke.

Bayer AG, of West Germany and parent company of Bayer USA Inc., said the acquisition gives it an American plant for the production of polychloroprene rubber.