DuPont to sell Kevlar business for $1.8 billion

Already significantly transformed, DuPont is shedding another one of its iconic brands. It has agreed to sell its aramid business, which makes Kevlar and Nomex fibers, to the chemical and polymer maker Arclin in a deal valued at about $1.8 billion.

“Today’s announcement is another important step in our continued optimization of the new DuPont portfolio,” DuPont CEO Lori Koch says in a press release. DuPont will receive about $1.2 billion in cash, a promise of $300 million, and a 17.5% stake in Arclin, worth about $325 million.

Kevlar will join product lines such as Teflon and Lycra as former DuPont brands. Famously invented in the mid-1960s by DuPont chemist Stephanie Kwolek, the high-strength material was first used in racing tires and went on to be adopted by the military and law enforcement agencies for bulletproof vests.

The aramid business had sales last year of $1.3 billion and employs about 1,900 people, DuPont says in the release.

DuPont’s transformation began in 2017 when it merged and later demerged with Dow, exiting agrochemicals and several other businesses in the process. It later sold its engineering-polymer business to Celanese for about $11 billion, handing off products including nylon 6,6.

DuPont announced in 2024 that it would split into three separate companies: an industrial materials maker that would include the aramid operation and companies focused on electronic materials and water treatment. It later reversed that plan and decided to spin off only its electronics business and keep the industrial and water businesses. The company says that plan remains on course, without the aramid operation.

Acquiring the business will significantly change Arclin, which doesn’t disclose annual sales but has 1,000-plus employees, according to its website. The company is owned by the investment firm TJC. It produces polymer-based surface overlays for construction and other applications. Last year it acquired a former DuPont plant that makes dimethylformamide and other methylamides.