Rhodia

Rhodia (founded 1998) was a group specialized in fine chemistry, synthetic fibers, and polymers. The company was acquired by the Belgian Solvay group in September 2011, in a deal valuing Rhodia at €3.4 billion. The company served the consumer goods, automotive, energy, manufacturing, and processes and electronics markets, and had 65 production sites worldwide, four research centers, and four joint laboratories. History Rhodia was a public company that was founded on January 1, 1998 following the spin-off of the chemicals, fibers, and polymers activities of Rhône-Poulenc when it merged with the German company Hoechst. On June 25, 1998, Rhône-Poulenc sold 32.7% of its share in Rhodia's capital to the public. Rhodia became a listed company. In 1999, Rhodia made two acquisitions: The Engineering Plastics activity of the top Korean group Hyosung, for Rhodia's Polyamides business unit. The Iberica Mix & Fix Center activity of Quimica Dos. The Mix & Fix Center is a unit that formulates and sells ready-to-use Hot Vulcanizable Silicone Elastomers. From October 1999, Rhône-Poulenc, which became Aventis then Sanofi-Aventis, gradually reduced its stake in Rhodia's capital. It sold all its shares in the company on October 17, 2006.