A French company, Paris-based Imerys, has bought the bentonite production plant in Bulgaria’s Karzdhali.

The plant was previously owned by Greek S&B Industrial Minerals S.A., according to reports of the BGNES news agency.

Although the deal was concluded at the end of 2014, there was no official announcement on the part of the local authorities.

According to sources close to the matter, the new owners will continue the production of bentonite, perlite, and zeolite, the core activity of the plant.

France’s Imerys has operations in 50 countries and a total headcount of 16 000 employees.

Active in 50 countries with more than 250 industrial locations, Imerys operates 121 mines and extracts 30 different minerals or families of minerals. The company achieved sales of almost EUR 3.9 billion in 2012.

This is the second French investment in Kardzhali after that of Serta, which owns the local machine building plant Pneumatica.

The bentonite plant in Kardzhali was acquired by Greek S&B Industrial Minerals S.A in 2003.