Industry News
Rhodia acquires Chinese company
Rhodia has announced plans to acquire
Feixiang Chemicals, China’s leading
producer of amines and surfactants. The
acquisition will enable Rhodia to integrate specialty amine technologies into
its Novecare business portfolio. The combination of Rhodia’s formulation expertise and end-market applications with
Feixiang Chemicals specialty amines
capabilities will reinforce Rhodia’s position in specialty surfactants for the
home and personal care, agrochemicals,
oilfield and industrial markets.
Headquartered in Zhangjiagang near
Shanghai, Feixiang Chemicals Feixiang
Chemicals is one of the leading companies in the Asia-Pacific area, producing,
developing and selling the full range of
fatty amines and specialty amines. It
employs approximately 650 people. The
company has demonstrated its ability to
drive top line growth—average of 20%
per year—while enhancing its profitability over the past five years. The acquisition price is based on an enterprise value
of $489 million for 100% of the company.
The current majority owner will retain
12.5% of the capital over the next two
years. The deal is expected to be finalized
in the second half 2010.
HUNTSMAN TO EXPAND
POLYETHERAMINES CAPACITY
The Performance Products division of
Huntsman Corp. will expand manufacturing capacity of its specialty amines
manufacturing facility located in
Llanelli, Wales. The planned expansion
will increase capacity by more than
50%. The investment will boost its production capabilities primarily related
to its Jeffamine polyetheramines family of products, as well as diglycolamine
agent and morpholine.
BASF AGREES IN PRINCIPLE
TO TAKEOVER COGNIS
BASF's proposed acquisition of Cognis
is entering its final stages with a deal
‘agreed in principle,’ according to the
newspaper Financial Times Deut-
schland (FTD). The main conditions of
the deal and the price have been
agreed, but no announcement is
expected before the middle of this
month. Permira and Goldman Sachs
Capital Partners— Cognis’ co-own-
ers—are looking for roughly € 3. 5 bil-
lion ($4.68 billion) for Cognis, includ-
ing the company’s €2 billion of debt,
FTD reported.
CELANESE ACQUIRES
TWO NEW PRODUCT LINES
Celanese Corporation’s Advanced
Engineered Materials business has
completed a transaction to acquire
two product lines, DuPont Zenite liquid crystal polymer (LCP) and
Thermx polycyclohexylene-dimethyl-ene terephthalate (PCT), from
PRICING CHANGES
BASF: July 1–$0.17/lb. increase for 1, 6
Hexanediol (HDO), Epsilon-Caprolactone
(CLO) and 1, 5 Pentanediol (PDO) in North
America and $0.03/lb. increase on all Styrofan
and Styronal styrene-butadiene latex products
in the U.S. and Europe.
Coatex: June 15–10% increase for its dispersing agents and 7% increase for its rheology modifiers.
Dow Europe GmbH: June 1–€350/MT
increase for liquid, solid and solid solution
epoxy resins and €250/MT increase for epoxy
blends and Novolac resins in Europe.
DSM Powder Coating Resins: July
1–$0.07-$0.09/lb. increase for its Uralac powder coating resins sold in North America.
DuPont Titanium Technologies: July
1–€150/MT increase for all DuPont Ti-Pure titanium dioxide grades sold in Europe, Middle
East and Africa.
International Specialty Products (ISP):
DuPont Performance Polymers. Revenues of Zenite LCP and Thermx
PCT were approximately $40 million
in 2009. The acquisition price was
not disclosed.
IN BRIEF
Celanese Emulsion Polymers’
EcoVAE resins have been approved
by the Master Painters Institute
Starting Point Program...BASF has
launched a product finder containing
more than 800 product lines at
www.basf.com/productfinder...Altana
has acquired ABB Micafil’s
polyurethane casting resins busi-ness...Perstorp has opened a new
application laboratory in Ghatkopar,
India........Eastman Chemical
Company has released a new comprehensive review, “Our
Sustainability Journey.” CW
July 1–8-10% increase for selected biocides,
including those based on IPBC, Folpet, tin and
CTL; 5-7% increase for polymers, vinyl
monomers, emollients, emulsifiers, preserva-
tives, UV fillers and encapsulates.
Oxea: July 1–$0.10/lb. increase for select
polyols and olefin derivatives in North America
and €50/MT increase for Neopentylglycol in
Europe.
Reichhold: June 7–$0.09/lb. increase on all
vinyl ester resins in North America.
Southern Clay Products: July 1–5-9%
increase for its paint and coatings additives.
Wacker Polymers: July 1–€80/MT increase
for Vinnapas and Vinnol dispersions in Europe.
DISTRIBUTOR APPOINTMENTS
Sekisui Specialty Chemicals has appointed Grolman GmbH & Co. KG to distribute its
range of Celvol polyvinyl alcohol in Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia
and Hungary.
