Air Products and AES Link on Green Hydrogen Plant
US industrial gases producer Air Products and energy group AES are teaming up to build, own and operate a green hydrogen plant in Wilbarger County, Texas, in the northern part of the state.
News
Canlak Coatings Expands US Presence with Ceram-Traz Buy
Canlak Coatings, owned by private equity group SK Capital Partners, has acquired Ceram-Traz, also known as Ceramic Industrial Coatings, for an undisclosed sum.
Private Equity Steps up for Baxter Biopharma
A private equity consortium of Warburg Pincus and Advent International is said to be in advanced talks to acquire medical device maker Baxter International’s biopharma solutions business. The deal could be worth $4 billion or more, news agencies and the newspaper Wall Street Journal reported.
IMCD Seals Two Acquisitions and a Distribution Deal
Rotterdam-based speciality chemicals distributor IMCD kicked off the month of May agreeing a major distribution partnership and two outright acquisitions.
Siegfried Takes Majority Stake in Dinamiqs
Swiss CDMO Siegfried has acquired a 95% stake in Dinamiqs, a compatriot biotech focused on developing and manufacturing viral vectors for cell and gene therapies.
OQ Chemicals Starts up Esters Pilot Plant
OQ Chemicals has successfully started up its new pilot plant for esters at Oberhausen, Germany. The company said the facility enables it to manufacture small quantities of esters tailored to customer needs for test purposes before making an industrial-scale investment.
PCAS in Exclusive Talks for Sale of Canada Business to Japan’s DIC
PCAS, a French specialist in complex molecules for the life sciences and specialty chemicals markets, has received an offer for its Canadian subsidiary from Japanese chemicals company DIC.
Technip and John Cockerill Launch Hydrogen Venture
French engineering and technology contractor Technip Energies and Belgian mechanical engineering group John Cockerill have launched green hydrogen company Rely.
Chemical Distribution in China
The Chinese chemical distribution market is very likely the largest in the world. To be successful in this competitive market, foreign distributors in particular need to consider some important aspects.
Glenfarne and Samsung Link on Chile Hydrogen Fuels
US energy and infrastructure developer Glenfarne Energy Transition has entered into a collaboration with South Korean contractor Samsung Engineering to conduct feasibility studies for multiple green hydrogen and ammonia projects in Chile.
Germany’s Merck Signs MoU on Korean Biotech Hub
Germany’s Merck said this week it has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), and Daejeon City to establish a new Asia-Pacific BioProcessing Center.
Proposed EU Ban on Lead in PVC Adopted
Within the framework of the REACh chemicals legislation, the European Commission said it is implementing previously discussed restrictions on the use of PVC in finished products to protect people and the environment from the toxic effects of lead.
NextChem Takes Majority Stake in MyRemono
NextChem, part of Italian engineering group Maire Tecnimont, has paid €6.12 million to take a 51% stake in MyRemono, a new company set up with partner Biorenova, which holds the remaining 49%.
CordenPharma Expands at US Site in Colorado
CordenPharma is expanding strategically into synthetic oligonucleotide manufacturing at its plant at Boulder in the US state of Colorado. The two-phase investment is designed to provide innovative biotech and pharma customers with a fully integrated API to Drug Product service offering.
Syngenta Acquires Australian Weed Management Specialist
Syngenta Crop Protection has bought Macspred Australia, a specialist in weed management for the forestry, roads, rail, utilities and infrastructure sectors.
DuPont to Acquire Spectrum Plastics Group
DuPont has agreed to pay US private equity firm AEA Investors $1.75 billion to acquire Spectrum Plastics Group, a small specialty plastics company based in Atlanta, Georgia. The price is a 15.6x multiple on Spectrum’s forecast 2023 EBITDA.
LyondellBasell Takes Veolia’s Recycling JV Stake
LyondellBasell said it plans to acquire Veolia Belgium‘s stake in the joint venture Quality Circular Polymers (QCP), which has recycling facilities in Belgium and the Netherlands. Currently, the Paris-headquartered waste management group supplies soiled plastic waste to the recycling units, a role it will continue on an independent basis.
Versalis Takes Control of Novamont
Versalis is taking full control of renewables specialist Novamont by acquiring the 64% stake held by joint venture partner Mater-Bi, which is held by equity funds Investitori Associati II and NB Renaissance.
Glenmark Putting Chunk of API Offshoot up for Sale?
India-headquartered drugmaker Glenmark is said to be taking another look at selling a majority stake in its business with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which is wrapped up in subsidiary Glenmark Life Sciences.
Nouryon Expands China Peroxides Capacity
Nouryon has announced plans to “signficantly” increase capacity for organic peroxides at its site in Ningbo, China. The Dutch specialty chemicals producer will double capacity of its Perkadox 14 and Trigonox peroxides to 6,000 t/y each by mid-2024.
Solvay Supplies Hydrogen Peroxide Process for China Plant
Solvay has signed an agreement with Chinese company Guangxi Chlor-Alkali Chemical (GHCAC) to supply a technology license for its hydrogen peroxide technology.
Small Particles with a Big Impact
In 2022, the European Commission revised the definition of nanomaterials in a new recommendation, which supports a uniform EU regulatory framework and aims at aligning the legislation across various sectors. Therefore, particle product design is an enabling technology relevant for many sectors, such as chemicals, consumer products, foods and beverages, health, energy, and the environment.
Siegfried Breaks Ground for Global R&D Center
Swiss-based, globally oriented CDMO Siegfried has broken ground or its new global Research and Development (R&D) Center for Drug Substances at its site in Evionnaz, Switzerland, which the company describes as a “key pillar” in its related network.
Germany Weighs Merits of Growing China Trade
As April winds down and major German chemical companies hold their annual shareholder meetings, questions are being asked whether about the country is tying its trade too closely to with China and repeating the same mistakes it made earlier by becoming dependent on Russian gas.
Ginkgo and Visolis Work on Bio-based Isoprene
Ginkgo Bioworks is partnering with US startup Visolis to improve the latter’s biomanufacturing process for isoprene and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Dow Links with Linde for Canada Cracker Project
Dow has selected Linde to supply clean hydrogen and nitrogen for its proposed net-zero carbon emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives site in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada.
Radici Opens China Polymer Plant
Italian polyamide and polymer specialist Radici has opened a new manufacturing plant in Suzhou, China, stepping up its presence in the Asian market. The site is designed to double capacity for engineering polymers, serving various markets that include automotive, electrical/electronics, consumer and industrial goods.
European Drugmakers Slam EU Reform Proposals
European NGOs have welcomed the EU’s plans for an overhaul of pharmaceutical legislation – the first in two decades – presented this week in Brussels. The drugs industry, however, has expressed sharp criticism.
BioBTX and Agilyx Collaborate on Renewable Aromatics
Agilyx ASA to explore the scale-up of the former’s integrated cascading catalytic pyrolysis (ICCP) process in a commercial demonstration plant.
DuPont to Pay $19 Million for 2014 Plant Explosion
Du Pont has been found guilty of criminal negligence and fined $12 million in connection with a November 2014 explosion that killed four employees of its methyl mercaptan plant in LaPorte, Texas, and caused extensive environmental damage.
Change of Ownership for African Distributor Solevo
African specialty chemicals distributor Solevo has been sold by its former owner Helios Investment Partners to Development Partners International (DPI), a private equity firm focused on Africa, in a consortium with minority co-investors South Suez and European development finance institution, DEG.
Linde to Supply Green Hydrogen to Evonik in Singapore
German specialty chemicals producer Evonik has emerged as one of only a handful of companies with concrete plans to use green hydrogen to make chemicals, although several others are eyeing the renewable fuel as an energy source.
IMCD Acquires Sweden’s ACM
In its second acquisition this month, IMCD has taken over Swedish minerals and chemicals distributor ACM. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Roquette Opens US Pharma Innovation Center
Roquette, a French-based multinational provider of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical excipients, has opened a new Pharmaceutical Innovation Center near Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, USA, complementing its other centers in France and Singapore.
All US Mifepristone Moves on Hold for now
All immediate challenges to the status of abortifacient mifepristone on the US market are on ice for the near future after the Supreme Court on Apr. 21 — without considering the merits of the case — approved a Justice Department request to put temporarily suspend recent rulings by a federal district court and an appeals court.
