The news was released that same day. "LANXESS acquires Petroflex chemicals group fo Brazil," stated one press report. "LANXESS invests over 80 million euros in its Leverkusen location," reported another. December 13, 2007, was a day to go down in history. The specialty chemicals company decided to get its production facilities at its home location ready for the future, since Leverkusen is the company's largest location worldwide with around 4,200 employees. This is where the group headquarters are located and where nine of the thirteen business areas are represented with a total of 20 production sites. At the same time, LANXESS is strengthening its global rubber business and expanding its position in South America. "Petroflex allows us to optimally round-off our product portfolio and gives us momentum on one of the most important growth markets in the world," stated Axel C. Heitmann, Chairman of the Board of Management at LANXESS. The use of synthetic rubber in Brazil still trails significantly behind that in industrialized nations and falls below the global average as well. But according to Mr. Heitmann, "Based on the data we have, the major global tire companies are expanding their capacities in Latin America by around one billion dollars." That means: LANXESS is ready for the boom.