The China National BlueStar (Group) Corporation became the largest Chinese investor in Europe after an acquisition deal announced Friday with the France-based specialty chemicals producer Rhodia Group.

The BlueStar Co. said it had bought Rhodia's organic silicon business, including its patents, manufacturing equipment and distribution channels, as well as the company's sulphide business.

The acquisition will upgrade the top Chinese organic silicon producer to the world's third place with an annual output of 420,000 tons.

Listed in the New York Stock Exchange and on the Paris-based Euronext, the Rhodia Group generated a sales of 5 billion euros last year.

As a subsidiary of the state-owned ChemChina Group Corporation, the BlueStar Co. focuses on chemical products and new materials and has a total asset of 20 billion yuan (2.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Early this year, the BlueStar bought the France-based Adisseo Group, the world's second largest producer of methionine, a supplement in animal feed that speeds up poultry breeding.

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