Corro-Coat to acquire biodiesel pioneer Chemrez, Inc.

Publicly-listed Corro-Coat Inc. said yesterday it will acquire 100 percent of its affiliate, coco methyl-ester (CME) manufacturer Chemrez Inc., through a share swap deal.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Corro-Coat said its board approved the "acquisition of the bio-diesel project of Chemrez and acquire 100 percent equity in Chemrez via a share swap."

Corro-Coat is a subsidiary of D & L Industries owned by the Lao family. D & L introduced powder coating in the Philippines in 1981. Its power coating business was spun off in 1989 to another company Corro-Coat., which then listed its shares at the PSE in December 2000.

In the same disclosure, the company said its board also approved the increase in the company’s authorized capital stock to P2 billion from P1 billion.

The Corro-Coat board likewise approved the change in corporate name to Chemrez Technologies Inc.

Due to the transaction, Corro-Coat’s shares were temporarily suspended from trading under further disclosures relative to the transaction made by the company.

Corro-Coat is a leading domestic manufacturer and distributor of powder coatings, a protective material, which is applied to a metal surface through an electrostatic coating process.

Dean Lao Jr., Chemrez operations manager, said they plan to list about 10 percent of Chemrez’s shares to raise funds to partly finance the construction of its P1.5-billion second coco-biodiesel plant.

Lao said the second plant will ideally be located near a seaport or within an economic zone. The second plant will triple the current production capacity of Chemrez at 180 million liters a year.

He said the second plant could be located either in Batangas Bay, Subic Bay or Cebu.

Chemrez recently inaugurated its P950-million coco-biodiesel plant in Libis, Quezon City. It has capacity of 60 million liters a year.

Chemrez is a leading manufacturer of colorants, resin, and specialty chemicals in the country. Chemrez produces the bio-diesel brand BioActiv BD 100.

Both Corro-Coat and Chemrez are members of the D & L Industries Group, a leading provider of colors, chemicals and plastics in the Philippines.