BTP to expand into drugs

BTP, Britain's fifth-biggest chemical company, said it will buy France's Hexachimie SAS, a unit of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, for $87.5m in cash in a move to expand its sales to drug companies.

BTP, which makes base chemicals for Pfizer Inc.'s new impotence drug Viagra and other chemicals, said Hexachimie has "unique expertise'' in making base, or "intermediate'' chemicals for agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. A third of Hexachimie's sales are to Bristol-Myers, a major drug company and the world's biggest maker of cancer drugs.

Hexachimie reported sales of $42.7m in the year to Dec. 31, 1997, with operating profit of $8.6m. Net assets were $45.8m.

Led by Chief Executive Steve Hannam, BTP has undergone a major drive into higher-margin sectors of the specialty chemical business in recent years.

BTP shares closed down 1p at 508p.

- Bloomberg