Chemical maker Albemarle’s (ALB - Snapshot Report) business unit – Chemetall – has purchased the aluminum finishing businesses of Germany-based Chemal GmbH & Co. KG. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Chemal specializes in developing surface finishing chemicals for aluminum and its alloys. The entity has been a specialist for the surface treatment and finishing of aluminum and other metal surfaces for more than three decades.

The acquisition will reinforce Chemetall's integrated product portfolio for the aluminum finishing industry and further expand its foothold and expertise in this key market. It will enable Chemetall to offer differentiated products and services to its customers.

Chemetall has a significant presence in the aluminium finishing industry with its chrome-free pretreatment technologies such as the zirconium-titanium Gardobond X and the silane-based, multi-metal Oxsilan technology.

Albemarle’s shares rose 1.7% to close at $63.63 last Thursday.

Albemarle, in Jan 2015, completed its $6.2 billion acquisition of Rockwood Holdings, the parent company of Chemetall. The acquisition brings together two leading specialty chemicals makers with strong market positions and complimentary product portfolios. The merged entity will have greater customer reach, enhanced diversity across end markets, technologies and geographies.

Albemarle has realigned its global business units following the closure of its Rockwood acquisition. The move aligns the company's strategic assets and businesses to be market focused and enables it to more effectively leverage its resources on innovation and growth.

The new business structure is comprised of three global business units – Chemetall Surface Treatment, Refining Solutions and Performance Chemicals. Each business unit has a dedicated team of sales, R&D, process engineering, manufacturing and sourcing, and business strategy personnel.

The new structure will help Albemarle achieve its strategic objectives of growing faster, performing at even higher levels and speed up the recognition and achievement of synergies beyond the identified cost synergies. It will also help the company to leverage its long-term lithium strategy.

Albemarle is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Other stocks in the chemicals space worth considering include LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB - Analyst Report), Trecora Resources (TREC - Snapshot Report) and Celanese Corp. (CE - Analyst Report) with all carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).