Specialty chemicals company DSM is setting up a joint venture with venture capital group CVC for its innovative fibre division.

DSM’s activities in the field of producing caprolactam and acrylonitrile, both used in the production of nylon and plastics, and its composite resin arm, will be hived off into the new company.

CVC will have a stake of 65% in the new company, dubbed NewCo, and DSM will have the remaining shares. The new firm will have a workforce of 1,950 and booked pro forma sales of over €2bn in 2014.

‘NewCo will operate as an independent, dedicated company under the leadership of CVC,’ said DSM chief executive Feike Sijbesma in a statement. ‘DSM can now focus fully on improving the operational performance of its nutrition and performance materials businesses as well as benefiting from the future value creation in this new venture.’

DSM said in November it wanted to divest these activities because they did not fit into its new core focus areas and are strongly cyclical.