These projects not only increased capacity, but enhanced
process safety and improved
technology and reliability.
Lubrizol to purchase Merquinsa
The Lubrizol Corporation has signed an
agreement to purchase Merquinsa, a
leader in specialty thermoplastic
polyurethanes (TPUs). This acquisition
will expand Lubrizol’s Engineered Polymers business and strengthen its ability to
meet the needs of its global customers.
Located in Barcelona, Spain, Merquinsa
products are used in a wide range of applications, which serve a variety of industries, including automotive, sports and
leisure, furniture and textile coatings.
Key Merquinsa global brands include:
Pearlstick, Pearlthane, Pearlthane Eco,
Pearlbond and Pearlcoat.
The move ensures that Merquinsa’s existing customers will continue to be supplied with the company’s products.
Lubrizol will be assuming approximately
100 Merquinsa employees. Once the
transaction closes all Merquinsa products
will be integrated with Lubrizol, combining the product offerings under the Lubrizol Engineered Polymers business.
DSM Coatings Resins plans
organizational alignment
DSM Coating Resins has outlined plans
to align the organization with its strategic
focus on its core coating and graphic arts
resins markets. As part of these plans, the
business unit will merge two business
units (formerly known as DSM Powder
Coating Resins and DSM NeoResins+),
which was announced earlier this year.
The company reported that DSM
aims to further improve the financial
performance of this newly formed busi-
ness unit, which is necessary also due to
the challenging economic circumstances
and weak building and construction
markets especially in Europe and North
America. As a result of the alignment,
the number of worldwide positions at
DSM Coating Resins will be reduced by
150 full time employees.
Taminco launches new
websites
Taminco has launched redesigned websites for the company’s coatings additives
Advantex and Vantex-T. Visitors to the
websites ( advantexamine.com and van-
tex-t.com) will be able to find product
brochures, technical and performance
data and research papers and scientific
presentations that are all available for immediate download.
“By integrating user-friendly design,
easy-to-read pages and simple naviga-
tion, these websites further our goal of
making it easier for customers and po-
tential customers to find the information
they’re looking for,” said Kurt Buyse,
Taminco’s Performance Products busi-
ness director.
Michelman acquires Licomer
floor polish additive business
from Clariant
Michelman has acquired Clariant’s Eu-ropean-based Licomer business. The purchase includes the Licomer line of floor
polish additives, associated intellectual
property, equipment and assets. Michelman will integrate all related customer
support and technical service into its offices and labs in Luxembourg and Belgium. The company has named Vladimir
Nuñez business manager, Licomer. Clariant will continue to sell and service the Licomer line in Central and South America
and the Caribbean under a trademark license from Michelman.
Licomer is a line of water-based polymer
dispersions and wax emulsions for the
manufacture of dry-bright emulsions intended specifically for the care of floors. The
range of solutions numbers more than
thirty grades including acrylic and styrene-acrylic dispersions, both free of metal salts
and containing metal salts, and emulsions
of polyethylene and montan waxes. The
various grades are designed for household,
industrial, and institutional use on surfaces
including terrazzo, marble, PVC, linoleum
and parquet.
Celanese acquires product lines
from Ashland Inc.
Celanese Corporation is set to acquire certain assets from Ashland Inc., including
two product lines, Vinac and Flexbond,
which will support the growth of the
Celanese Emulsion Polymers business.
Revenues of Vinac and Flexbond were approximately $45 million in 2010.
PNWSCT issues call for papers
The Pacific Northwest Society for Coatings Technology (PNWSCT) has issued a call for papers for the PNWSCT Coatings Fest 2012,
which will be held October 10-12 in Semiahmoo, Washington. Topics of interest for the conference include: new product applications, substrates, modernization of equipment and safety/environmental/sustainability. The audience for these presentations is technical professional personnel in R&D and manufacturing. Presentations should be at a technical level of interest. For
further information please contact technical chairs, Thelma Longakit ( tlongakit@cloverdalepaint.com) and Vernon Lo
( vlo@debro.com) or go to www.pnwsct.org.
42 | Coatings World
www.coatingsworld.com
December 2011