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Business

BUSINESS ROUNDUP

November 26, 2007 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 85, Issue 48

Akzo Nobel has completed the sale of its Organon pharmaceutical unit to Schering-Plough for $16.3 billion. The firms first announced the deal in March, but the wait for regulatory agencies' approval delayed the deal's consummation.

Bayer MaterialScience is acquiring the urethanes business of Dr. D.A. Delis AG, in Athens, for an undisclosed sum. Bayer says the purchase will make it the first major urethanes manufacturer to establish its own urethanes systems business in Southeast Europe.

Ineos' proposed acquisition of Kerling, Norsk Hydro's polyvinyl chloride business, is on hold again as the European Commission studies whether the deal will limit competition in suspension polyvinyl chloride. Ineos notified EC about the deal in mid-July and originally expected a decision in September. EC postponed making a decision until early November and now has delayed it again until Feb. 18, 2008.

Hanwha Living & Creative has acquired Azdel, a 50-50 joint venture of SABIC Innovative Plastics and PPG Industries that makes thermoplastic composites for transportation and other applications. SABIC will continue to supply plastics to the business, and PPG will supply fiberglass reinforcement materials.

Albemarle has begun construction of a new polyolefin catalysts plant at its process development center in Baton Rouge, La. The company expects to complete the $15 million addition by the end of 2008, effectively doubling capacity for single-site and Ziegler-Natta catalysts and components.

Rhodia will build a plant in Qingdao, China, for high-performance silica used in low-rolling-resistance tires. The company already operates silica facilities at the same site. Separately, Rhodia has inaugurated a diphenol plant in Zhenjiang, near Shanghai.

Avantium Technologies, the high-throughput R&D company spun off from Shell in 2000, has withdrawn plans for an initial public offering. The company had scheduled the IPO for Nov. 16 but has now postponed it because of what Avantium CEO Tom van Aken calls "sharply declining market conditions."

Hadasit, the technology-transfer company of Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Organization, has formed a drug development joint venture with the Melbourne, Australia-based biotech firm Anadis. Tentatively called Immuron, the venture plans to develop a line of drugs to treat several inflammatory diseases, infectious diseases, and cancers.

Photocure, a Norwegian company that develops pharmaceuticals and devices for the photodynamic diagnosis and treatment of cancer, will spin off PCI Biotech, its drug delivery subsidiary. PCI, which specializes in the light-directed delivery of therapeutic molecules into tumor cells, intends to seek a listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

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