Dow Plastics and Solutia Inc. sign agreement to transition nylon business

Under the new agreement, Solutia will resume marketing responsibilities for the nylon molding resins business.

While the marketing arrangement was successful in driving growth for Vydyne resins, the anticipated synergies between the historical Dow product portfolio and Vydyne nylon resins did not materialize as expected.

"With our fully integrated nylon capabilities, Solutia has a significant knowledge base beyond manufacturing that will support growth going forward. We will be working very closely with Dow to ensure a speedy and seamless transition to avoid any interruptions of customer service or product delivery. We are committed to providing customers with the service and products they receive today," said John Saucier, vice president and general manager of Solutia's Integrated Nylon business.

According to Jeff Gardner, vice president of Dow Engineering Plastics, "The change will be effective as of May 1, 2002, but work is starting now to transfer the commercial, marketing, technical and other operations support roles to Solutia. Dow and Solutia agree that leveraging Solutia's fully integrated nylon position and technical expertise provides the most efficient approach to support customers of Vydyne resins."

Terms of the agreement were not made public.