22.07.2021 • News
Vopak and India’s Aegis in Chemicals Storage Venture
Dutch multinational terminal operator Vopak is linking up with Aegis in India to expand in the chemicals and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) storage and handling business.
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22.07.2021 • News
Trinseo Pays $445 Million for Aristech
Trinseo has agreed to buy Aristech Surfaces from Falcon Private Holdings for $445 million. Headquartered in Florence, Kentucky, USA, Aristech is a leading North American manufacturer of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) continuous cast and solid surface sheets serving wellness applications, such as hot tubs and spas, as well as architectural, transportation and industrial markets.
22.07.2021 • News
Catalent Kicks off $100 Million Expansion in Italy
Catalent has kicked off the first phase of a two-phase $100 million expansion to add biologics drug substance production at the Anagni, Italy, plant it acquired from Bristol Myers Squibb in January 2020. This, the US-based CDMO said, will support the growing European market demand for biologics manufacture and supply.
21.07.2021 • News
Solvay Wins Environmental Case Against Edison
Solvay has announced that the International Chamber of Commerce’s arbitration tribunal has found Edison liable for breaching environmental representations and warranties in the sale of the Spinetta Marengo and Bussi sul Tirino sites in Italy to the Belgian group in 2001.
21.07.2021 • News
Azelis Acquires French Distributor Quimdis
Specialty chemicals and food ingredients distributor Azelis is acquiring Quimdis, a French distributor of ingredients for nutraceuticals, flavors & fragrances, animal nutrition, personal care, pharma and food. Closing of the transaction is expected by the end of August.
21.07.2021 • News
BioNTech Buying Cell Therapy Plant from Kite
Germany’s BioNTech, best known publicly for the Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty it developed in partnership with US drugs giant Pfizer, has announced plans to buy a cell therapy R&D platform and clinical manufacturing plant from Gilead Sciences’ Kite Pharma subsidiary.
20.07.2021 • News
Sasol Sells Sodium Cyanide Business to Draslovka
South Africa’s Sasol has agreed to sell its sodium cyanide business to a local subsidiary of Draslovka Holding, a privately owned Czech-based company, for 1.46 billion Rand, or approximately $101 million. The deal, part of Sasol’s ongoing asset divestment program, is expected to close in the first half of 2022, subject to antitrust clearance and other license and permit regulatory approvals.
20.07.2021 • News
Novo Nordisk Takes Prothena’s ATTR Amyloidosis Program
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk has acquired Prothena’s clinical-stage stage antibody PRX004 and broader ATTR amyloidosis program, gaining full global rights to the intellectual property and related rights of the ATTR amyloidosis business and pipeline.
20.07.2021 • News
Aramco’s US Gulf Expansion Said on Ice
Saudi Arabia’s US Gulf Coast offshoot, Motiva Enterprises has at least temporarily suspended plans worth at least $6.6 billion to add new petrochemical plants to its refining operations in Port Arthur, Texas, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing “people familiar with the matter.”
19.07.2021 • News
Verdant Strengthens Surfactants with First Acquisition
Verdant Specialty Solutions, Solvay’s former amphoteric surfactants business, has acquired DeForest Enterprises and ParaFlow Energy Solutions from Chemical Services Group for an undisclosed sum.
19.07.2021 • News
Lone Star Takes AOC from CVC
Netherlands-based AOC, a producer of unsaturated polyester resins, vinyl ester resins and other solutions for applications in coatings, colorants, adhesives and conventional composite resins, is being transferred from one private equity investor to another.
19.07.2021 • News
J&J Said to Eye Bankruptcy for Baby Powder Unit
A month after buying its way out of prosecution in the long-running US litigation against opioid makers for $263 million, Johnson & Johnson is now said to be weighing plans to offload liabilities from lawsuits charging that its talc-based baby powder causes ovarian cancer or mesothelioma and, alternatively, that it contains asbestos.
16.07.2021 • News
Vynova Plans Potassium Carbonate Plant in Belgium
European PVC and chlor-alkali producer Vynova has announced plans to build a plant for liquid potassium carbonate at its site in Tessenderlo, Belgium, replacing an existing facility. The company will invest €4 million in the new plant, which is expected to be operational by mid-2022. Construction is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2021.
16.07.2021 • News
New Mountain Acquires Ascensus Specialties
Private equity group New Mountain Capital has acquired Ascensus Specialties, a provider of specialty materials headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, USA. Financial details were not disclosed. The former majority shareholder Wind Point Partners will reinvest in Ascensus in partnership with New Mountain. Wind Point acquired Ascensus in January 2015 from Dow Chemical.
16.07.2021 • News
Advent Sells Allnex to PTT for €4 Billion
To gain a berth in the sustainable industrial coatings market, Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), a 45% affiliate of Bangkok-based, state-owned energy major PTT, is paying Advent International €4 billion for the private equity giant’s Germany-based Allnex resins portfolio company. The selling price is more than 12 times last year’s EBITDA.
15.07.2021 • News
Azelis Boosts Asian Presence with South Korean Buys
Azelis has made two acquisitions this month to date, both in South Korea. The most recent agreement, announced on Jul. 14, is the proposed takeover of Seoul-headquartered Coseal, which specializes in the distribution, repackaging and blending of agricultural/horticultural surfactants.
15.07.2021 • News
UK Greenlights AstraZeneca/Alexion Deal
The bark of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) evidently is worse than its bite – which in the case of AstraZeneca’s $39 billion acquisition of Alexion was none at all. Only a week after European authorities approved the deal, the CMA also gave the green light, without voicing any competition concerns. With this behind it, the two drugmakers are free to merge by Jul. 21.
15.07.2021 • News
EU Unveils “Fit for 55” Climate Proposals
Building on the Green Deal it rolled out at the end of 2019 and the European Climate Law that goes into effect this month, the European Commission on Jul. 14, concretized its long anticipated targets toward putting the EU at the forefront of political blocs dealing with climate change.
14.07.2021 • News
Air Liquide and Partners Explore French CCS Project
Air Liquide, Borealis, TotalEnergies, Esso and Yara International have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore the development of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure project to help decarbonize their facilities in Normandy, France.
14.07.2021 • News
Fujifilm Expands US, UK Capacities
Japan’s Fujifilm has pledged an investment package of about $850 million to accelerate the growth of its core bio CDMO subsidiary Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies by expanding capabilities at undisclosed locations in the US and UK. Initial engineering studies are underway and the projects are scheduled to begin operating by late 2023.
14.07.2021 • News
AMRI Becomes Curia, Makes Acquisition
Only a day after announcing it was changing its name to Curia, the US CDMO known up to now as AMRI announced a “definitive agreement” to acquire Integrity Bio, a privately held biologics formulation and fill & finish organization headquartered in Camarillo, California.
13.07.2021 • News
Repsol Builds Polymer Plants at Sines
Spanish energy and petrochemicals group Repsol has announced plans to build new polymer plants at its Sines complex in Portugal. The €657 million project, it said, represents the largest industrial investment in Portugal in the past 10 years.
13.07.2021 • News
J&J Covid Shot to Carry Guillain-Barré Warning
The prospects for Johnson & Johnson’s viral vector vaccine to play a major role in the global inoculation against Covid-19 in the developed world are looking increasingly dim. The latest blow is that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing to mandate a warning label that the vaccine can lead to an increased risk of Guillain–Barré syndrome, a rare but serious neurological condition.
13.07.2021 • News
Lanxess and Wacker Join Foundation 2°
Lanxess and Wacker have become the first two chemical companies to join Foundation 2°, a German corporate initiative lobbying for effective market-based conditions for climate protection and recognition of the “problem-solving skills of German companies.”
12.07.2021 • News
Petrochem Partners DP World in Jebel Ali Terminal
Chemical distributor Petrochem Middle East and multinational logistics group DP World are collaborating to develop a chemical terminal in Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
12.07.2021 • News
Investindustrial Sells Polynt-Reichhold Stake to Black Diamond
UK investment group Investindustrial has exited Polynt-Reichhold, selling its shareholding to partner and compatriot private equity firm Black Diamond Capital Management. The deal is expected to close within six months, subject to receiving the necessary regulatory approvals. Upon closing, Black Diamond will be Polynt-Reichhold’s controlling shareholder.
12.07.2021 • News
Pfizer to Seek FDA Approval for Vaccine Booster
Pharma giant Pfizer plans to ask the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine it makes with Germany’s BioNTech. The company said it will file an application within the next month.
09.07.2021 • News
Axalta Boosts Auto Offering with U-POL Buy
US coatings company Axalta has entered into an agreement to buy U-POL Holdings, a UK manufacturer of repair and refinish products for the automotive industry, from private equity owner Graphite Capital Management. Closing is expected to for the second half of 2021. The purchase at about $590 million.
09.07.2021 • News
Nouryon Completes Spin-out of Nobian
Nouryon, the former specialty chemical business of AkzoNobel, has completed the spin-out of its base chemicals business, Nobian. The latter company will be held separately by Nouryon’s private equity owners, the Carlyle Group and GIC.
09.07.2021 • News
Merck in Two Bioelctronics Collaborations
German pharmaceuticals, chemicals and life sciences group Merck has signed two collaboration agreements in its new bioelectronics innovation field, which it said builds on and combines its experience and expertise in its Healthcare and Electronics business segments.
08.07.2021 • News
Dow Plans Series of Plant Expansions
Dow has announced a series of “incremental, high-return” capacity expansions around the world to support fast-growing demand across key end-markets.
08.07.2021 • News
Maersk in Saudi Logistics Partnership
Maersk Saudi Arabia, part of Danish shipping and logistics giant A.P. Moller – Maersk, has entered into a strategic partnership with King Abdullah Port to provide services for the Kingdom’s petrochemical exporters. The partners will set up the Maersk Integrated Logistics Hub, a non-bonded warehouse for handling and storing cargoes.
08.07.2021 • News
EU Approves AstraZeneca Takeover of Alexion
EU competition authorities have approved AstraZeneca’s $39 billion takeover of US biopharma Alexion. Europe’s green light for the deal sealed in December 2020 follows the approval of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in April 2021.
07.07.2021 • News
MKS Buys Germany’s Atotech
US semiconductor equipment maker MKS Instruments is buying German specialty chemicals and equipment company Atotech for an enterprise value of $6.5 billion in a combined cash-and-stock deal. The acquisition is expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2021. MKS will fund the cash portion of the transaction with funds to hand and debt financing.
07.07.2021 • News
Emergent BioSolutions Faces Shareholder Lawsuits
In the aftermath of a far-reaching mix-up of Astra Zeneca’s Covid vaccine ingredients with those of Johnson & Johnson’s shot, US CDMO Emergent BioSolutions not only has lost half of its stock market value but is also facing shareholder lawsuits related to other offenses, including securities fraud.
