LANXESS AG has successfully completed the acquisition of an approximate 70% holding in Petroflex S.A., Latin America’s biggest rubber producer, for an estimated €200 million.  Petroflex S.A. will be included in LANXESS’s consolidated financial statements from the second quarter of 2008.

“Petroflex ideally complements our product portfolio and strengthens our position in one of the world’s most important growth markets,” said Axel C. Heitmann, chairman of the LANXESS Board of Management. “In this way, we are decisively reinforcing our position in Latin America, and we welcome our new employees with whom we want to continue growing.”

In 2007, Petroflex achieved sales equivalent to €535 million with 1,300 employees, and the group has three production sites in Brazil: Cabo (Federal State of Pernambuco), Duque de Caxias (Federal State of Rio de Janeiro), and Triunfo (Federal State of Rio Grande do Sul).