Grenoble, France – The French commercial court in Lyon has confirmed the acquisition of Vencorex’s specialty isocyanate business by Wanhua, via its Hungarian subsidiary Borsodchem. The deal is valued at €1.2m, with €19m set to be invested in the facility by 2027.
Vencorex has an HDI capacity of 70kT at its production facility in Grenoble. About 50 of the 450 jobs there will be retained.
An employee-led cooperative had also attempted to take over the business, but the court rejected the proposal, saying the financing requirements had not been met. The court rejected a request to delay the decision for a further four weeks to give the cooperative more time to raise funding, saying it did not have the cashflow to secure the site’s future for longer than 15 days.
Vencorex had been struggling in the light of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, and entered receivership in September 2024. Wanhua said it plans to integrate the acquired Vencorex assets into its European business, including its warehousing facilities.
