Envalior entered the market in 2023 as a new engineering materials powerhouse, covering performance materials, specialty materials, and intermediates by bringing together two highly complementary materials industry players: DSM Engineering Materials and LANXESS High Performance Materials.
Envalior entered the market in 2023 as a new engineering materials powerhouse, covering performance materials, specialty materials, and intermediates by bringing together two highly complementary materials industry players: DSM Engineering Materials and LANXESS High Performance Materials. By combining the strengths of both companies, Envalior offers a truly global reach across regions and end markets, a strong & broad materials portfolio, deep material and application expertise, proven dedication to driving carbon-efficient and circular engineering materials and a collaborative and pioneering spirit to continuously explore new material solutions with and for customers.
Although born in 2023, Envalior’s deep material and application expertise and broad portfolio of performance materials, specialty materials and intermediates are strongly rooted via the two companies that shaped Envalior: DSM Engineering Materials and LANXESS High Performance Materials.
DSM was established in 1902 to mine coal reserves in the Dutch province of Limburg; the letters DSM originally stood for Dutch State Mines. The company transformed over the years from Dutch coal mining into a global science-based chemical company, active in Engineering Materials and Nutrition & Health.
DSM’s transformation from mining to chemicals lifted off in 1919 with the opening of a cookery. In 1930 DSM produced the first fertilizer while the diversification accelerated further post-1945, with a focus on (bulk-) chemicals and petrochemicals. By the time the last coal mine closed in 1973, DSM was fully transformed into a chemical company. During the 1990s - when the company was privatised - the change continued, transforming DSM further via acquisitions and divestments into a global engineering materials company.
By the end of the 20th century, DSM entered biotechnology with the acquisitions of Dutch Gist-Brocades, followed by acquisitions of Swiss Roche Vitamins & Fine Chemicals and other companies in the first two decades of the 21st century, letting the company focus on two strong pillars: Engineering Materials and Nutrition & Health. In 2023, DSM split-up: the materials activities merged with the materials business of Germany-based LANXESS into Envalior, while the Nutrition & Health pillar merged with Swiss-based Firmenich into dsm-firmenich.
The roots of LANXESS’ High Performance Materials business date back to 1863, the year that Bayer AG was founded. In 2004, Bayer formed the German specialty chemicals company LANXESS AG via a carve-out of (large parts of) its chemical- and polymer businesses.
Via acquisitions and divestments, the LANXESS Group further transformed into a globally operating chemical enterprise with its core business in the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and consumer protection products and with operational businesses grouped into three pillars: Advanced Intermediates, Specialty Additives and Consumer Protection.
In 2023, LANXESS and Advent International - a global private equity investor with a track record in chemicals investments - created a new Joint Venture for high-performance engineering polymers, for which LANXESS and Advent acquired the Engineering Materials business from DSM to merge with LANXESS’ High Performance Materials business into a brand-new global powerhouse for Engineering Materials: Envalior.
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