A Canadian company is the new owner of a chemical plant at the edge of North Lawrence, and an adjacent plant is in negotiations for a sale of its own.

Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund this week paid $21.75 million for Peak Chemical LLC, a plant with 23 employees at 440 N. Ninth St.

No major changes are planned for the operation, which produces phosphorous pentasulfide, a chemical additive that puts the slick in motor oil, said Victor Wells, a Chemtrade vice president and chief financial officer.

But the move will be expected to open up new markets for the plant that already posted sales of $9.4 million during the first six months of the year. Peak Chemical is Chemtrade’s first foray into the lubricants industry.

“Chemtrade will continue to operate the plant, as is, as it’s presently run, and we’re looking forward to including it as part of the Chemtrade operations,” Wells said. “It’s tied in with our strategy of growth. We’re looking forward to folding them into the Chemtrade group and looking forward to working with the people down there.”

All Peak Chemical employees will retain their jobs and continue under the same work rules and labor agreements that have made the site a solid performer, Wells said.

A Toronto-based chemicals company now owns Peak Chemical LLC's plant at 440 N. Ninth St. The plant produces phosphorous pentasulfide, an additive the makes motor oil and other lubricants slick.

Such commitments made it easier for Lenexa-based Peak Investments to shed the asset that it had owned since 2000, said Bill Sichko, Peak’s chief administrative officer.

“This is someone who you know isn’t going to come in and tear down the house,” Sichko said. “In this deal, we wanted to make sure the employees were protected. : You have a buyer, who, in our mind, has integrity, a buyer who’s in the business, a buyer who we know is growing.”

Peak Investments also sold another of its holdings, Peak Sulfur Inc., to Chemtrade for $166.75 million. Peak Sulfur – which regenerates sulfuric acid, so that it may be used to turn oil into gasoline – has plants in Beaumont, Texas; Shreveport, La.; Riverton, Wyo.; and Tulsa, Okla.

“They’re committed to the industry,” Sichko said. “They’re committed to growing the industry. And, quite frankly, our efforts in trying to grow the industry were unsuccessful.”

• 6News video: Business deal moves in north of town

The Peak Chemical plant is adjacent to a phosphates plant and sits on land leased from Astaris LLC, a joint venture of FMC Corp. and Solutia Inc. The entire chemical complex had been owned by FMC until 2000, when federal regulators forced the company to sell the phosphorous pentasulfide plant to ensure competition in the market.

Now FMC and Solutia are in exclusive negotiations with a single potential buyer for Astaris, which is based in St. Louis and also has production operations in New Jersey, California and Brazil.

Karen Schuyler, manager of the Astaris plant at the edge of North Lawrence, said that the sale being negotiated would be a plus for all parties involved – including the plant’s 160 employees.

“I think it’ll be a very positive thing for Astaris, as well as the Lawrence plant,” Schuyler said. “It’s going to be a good thing.”

The Astaris plant makes two products:

¢ Phosphates, which are added to toothpaste, french fries, shampoo and other products.

¢ Phosphoric acid, which puts the zing in sodas and is used in the etching of semiconductors and flat-panel displays for electronics, including computer monitors, televisions, wireless phones and PDAs.

It’s been less than two years since the 54-year-old plant received $5 million in upgrades that allowed it to take on added work, which came after an Astaris restructuring closed two other phosphates plants.