Business Roundup

Taminco has updated its filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of stock. The amines specialist will price its shares between $18.00 and $20.00. The firm now hopes to raise up to $363 million, up from an earlier estimate of $250 million.

Saudi Basic Industries and MIT have signed an agreement encompassing joint research in areas such as new materials and the manufacture of chemicals from unconventional feedstocks. The Saudi firm already has partnerships with Cambridge University, ETH Zurich, and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics.

Arkema has acquired a 25% stake in Ihsedu Agrochem, a subsidiary of the Indian castor oil producer Jayant Agro. Arkema says the investment will help it secure a supply of castor oil as a raw material for the biobased engineering polymers nylon 10 and 11.

Zoltek, a St. Louis-based maker of carbon fibers, has amended agreements with top executives to allow faster vesting of stock options should a change of control take place at the firm. Zoltek has been under attack by Quinpario Partners, a private equity firm headed by former Solutia CEO Jeffry N. Quinn. Quinpario has a 10% stake in Zoltek.

Ferro has hired Capgemini to provide technology services. The agreement will save $30 million in 2013 and $70 million in 2014, Ferro says. The firm, which is fending off a hostile bid from plastics compounder A. Schulman, also increased its earnings estimate for 2013.

Alcoa is licensing aluminum-bonding technology to surface treatment specialist Chemetall, a division of Rockwood Holdings. Alcoa says the technology enables adhesive bonding of aluminum for automotive applications and could lead to greater use of the lightweight metal.

Immune Design has picked Scynexis as its chemical development and current Good Manufacturing Practices production partner for the manufacture of glucopyranosyl lipid A. Immune Design is developing GLA as an adjuvant for prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines.

NovAliX and Inventiva are joining to offer discovery services for drugs that target nuclear receptors in the human body. The French partners say drug companies can entrust them with an entire nuclear receptor program from target validation to Investigational New Drug Application filing.

Unigene Laboratories, a developer of peptide-based therapeutics, is cutting 40% of its workforce, or about 20 employees, as it restructures. Victory Park Capital Advisors has provided $750,000 to help the company operate, but Victory also has moved to divest Unigene’s drug delivery technology because the firm has defaulted on a $56 million loan.