W. R. Grace & Co. plans to...

W. R. Grace & Co. plans to sell minority stakes in its specialty units and energy holdings to generate funds to expand its profitable chemical business. The New York-based company, which is the leading U.S. maker of specialty chemicals, expects the sales to generate at least $300 million, a spokesman said. Grace’s specialty businesses include cocoa, specialty textiles and specialty agricultural activities. Grace, which has sold $2 billion in assets in the past two years, said it would use proceeds to support both its core specialty chemical business--which has high capital requirements--and its non-specialty chemical business in a restructuring to boost 1989 profits.