DSM Engineering Plastics (Sittard, The Netherlands) is selling its Yparex adhesive tie-layer technology, which is used in multilayer films, pipes, and cladding panels, to fellow Dutch firm RESIN (Products & Technology) BV. Details on the transaction, which is expected to close within the first quarter of 2011 pending regulatory approval, were not disclosed.

DSM's Yparex adhesive tie-layer product is based on maleic anhydride-(MaH)-modified and functionalized polyolefin compounds and can be used to join all forms of polyolefin-based resins to metals (aluminum, steel, and copper) and barrier materials, like polyamides and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH).

The Yparex business will be operated as an independent company focused on adhesive tie-layer resins and called Yparex B.V. It will be headquartered at its current location on Chemelot Campus at Geleen, The Netherlands. RESIN has agreed to sign a compounding agreement with DSM Engineering Plastics to retain production in Genk, Belgium, during the transition period. It has also signed service agreements with DSM Ahead and DSM Solutions for ongoing R&D support to the Yparex business.

Yparex is applied in multilayer packaging films, including barrier films for food packaging, industrial films with oxygen barrier, and multilayer non-food packaging with improved puncture resistance and mechanical properties. In multilayer pipe applications, it's used for protective pipe for cabling; barrier pipe for floor and wall heating and cooling; and diffusion-free composite (metal/plastic) pipe that is corrosion resistant. In multilayer cladding panels, it helps create lower cost, lightweight composites that are used in the construction industry to face buildings.

RESIN supplies compounds and concentrates of rigid and elastomeric thermoplastic polyolefins, with added functionalities, including halogen-free flame retardance, improved barrier properties, and/or improved mechanical properties, with or without colorant.