LONDON — ICI plc announced an agreement for the sale of its Chlor-Chemicals, Klea and Crosfield Co. businesses to Belgium-based Ineos, a producer of acrylics, ethylene oxide, and derivatives. The sale will net ICI approximately £325, or $472 million, the company said. Crosfield is a supplier of silica products used in coatings and other markets. ICI said the sale, which the company expects to finalize in early 2001, will essentially complete a drastic revamping of ICI over the past three years into a specialty-chemicals and decorative-coatings manufacturer.

Crosfield, with operations in Joliet, IL, is a major manufacturer of silica and alumina products, including silicates and zeolites. Klea is a manufacturer of fluorine-based products, and Chlor-Chemicals is a major chlor-alkali producer in Europe and a global supplier of chlorine derivatives.