W.R. Grace gets court approval to acquire Flexia for up to C$16.1 million

By Jeff Pines

Washington, Oct. 13 - W.R. Grace & Co. obtained court approval to acquire Flexia Corp., a Brantford, Ont.-based developer of a synthetic, protective product put underneath roof shingles, for up to C$16.1 million.

The order approving the purchase was filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Wednesday.

In its request for an order approving the sale, Grace, a Columbia, Md.-based chemical company, said the Flexia product, marketed under the Tri-Flex 30 trademark, "is rapidly displacing" the standard roofing underlayment products.

"Tri-Flex sales have doubled over the last three years, and, because current market penetration is low, double-digit growth is expected for the foreseeable future," Grace said.

In a separate matter, the court approved Grace's settlement with Honeywell International over Honeywell's alleged contamination of a Grace property in Jersey City, N.J.

A Grace subsidiary acquired the property in 1981, but the company said it was unaware that the property was contaminated with 1.5 million tons of chromium waste from a chromium manufacturing plant closed in 1954 but owned by a Honeywell predecessor.

Grace sued Honeywell in federal court in Newark, N.J., for damages and a ruling requiring Honeywell to clean up the site.

The court ruled for Grace in May 2003, but Honeywell appealed.

Grace filed for bankruptcy on April 2, 2001. Its Chapter 11 case number is 01-01139.

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