West German Firm to Buy Chemical Maker

A subsidiary of Union Carbide Corp. will sell a specialty chemical business to Hoechst Celanese Corp., a West German firm, for an undisclosed price, officials said.

Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Co. said it has reached an agreement to sell its primary alcohol ethoxylates, or PAEs, business. PAEs are agents used to make household products such as laundry detergents and cleaners.

The acquisition will include inventories and associated business technology, although no manufacturing facilities, property or personnel are included in the transaction.

Union Carbide, which makes PAEs at a Texas City, Tex., petrochemical complex, said it would continue production for Hoechst Celanese under a multiyear agreement.

W. E. Shackelford, a Union Carbide vice president, said the sale would allow the company’s industrial chemicals division to focus full attention on other chemicals.

Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics makes specialty chemicals and plastics sold throughout the world. Hoechst Celanese makes chemicals, fibers, film and other materials worth about $6 billion in sales.