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Business

Business Concentrates

June 20, 2005 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 83, Issue 25

Private investor seeks control of catalyst maker Sd-Chemie

Three corporate shareholders in the German catalysts and adsorbents producer Sd-Chemie have agreed to sell their combined 39% share in the company to One Equity Partners, an investment arm of J.P. Morgan Chase, for 35 euros per share, a 7% premium over the firm's recent average stock price. One Equity plans to offer the same price to all shareholders in July with the goal of acquiring majority ownership in the firm. The balance of Sd-Chemie's shares will continue to trade on the stock market. The offering implies a market value for the whole company of close to $500 million. Christopher von Hugo, an Equity One managing partner, says his firm "considers itself to be a long-term entrepreneurial partner" that will support Sd-Chemie in becoming a global firm. The company had sales last year of about $1 billion and has about 5,000 employees.

Cleanup attempt made in Bhopal

For the first time in the 20 years since the accident that killed thousands in the central Indian city of Bhopal, the government of the state of Madhya Pradesh is attempting to clean up the site. But activists are protesting the methods used and have produced photos of workers without any form of protective equipment supposedly removing waste. "This is tragic," remarks Ronald J. Willey, a professor of chemical engineering at Northeastern University. "Someone is not thinking too well." Willey visited the former Union Carbide site last December after a conference commemorating the event (C&EN, Jan. 24, page 28). There is no definitive study on the amount of toxic waste left at the site, but several studies suggest the waste is polluting the local water supply. Finger-pointing between Dow Chemical subsidiary Union Carbide and the government of Madhya Pradesh over who was in charge of the site has delayed the cleanup. Addressing concerns over the workers' lack of protective equipment, Madhya Pradesh Minister of State for Gas Relief Umashankar Gupta was quoted by the newspaper Hindustan Times as saying: "I had gone into the shed and remained there for a while. ... I do not see any danger to workers carrying out construction of a wall there."

Invista spins off e-textiles

Invista, formerly DuPont Textiles & Interiors, has spun off Textronics, a unit that develops electro-textile materials. NGEN Partners, SAS Investors, Unilever Technology Ventures, and Invista itself have invested in the new firm. Textronics is developing elastic fabrics for apparel, home, transportation, and industrial applications that conduct a charge, illuminate, sense, and warm, CEO Stacey Burr says. Earlier this year, the firm demonstrated a prototype undergarment that senses heart rate and respiration.

Mylan backs off branded drugs

Months after its attempt to purchase King Pharmaceuticals for $4 billion was thwarted by financier Carl Icahn and its other shareholders, Mylan has announced that it will buy back a quarter of its outstanding shares for $1.25 billion and close its Mylan Bertek branded drug subsidiary. Mylan also says it will license marketing rights to nebivolol, a beta-blocker drug that is pending FDA approval. Obtaining a marketing channel for nebivolol was part of the logic behind the King deal. The moves "demonstrate Mylan's continued commitment to enhancing our leading position in the generic pharmaceutical industry," says CEO Robert J. Coury.

Solvay backs solar plane

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Credit: SOLAR IMPULSE IMAGE
Credit: SOLAR IMPULSE IMAGE

Solvay has entered a partnership with Solar Impulse, a team including balloonist Bertrand Piccard that aims to circumnavigate the globe in a solar-powered airplane. Solvay says its support will include development of innovative materials, research into photovoltaics, and selection of thermal insulation materials. Solar Impulse plans to design the plane in 2006-07 and fly it by 2010.

Rtgers units go to new firm

As part of the restructuring of Germany's RAG Group, Rtgers Chemicals has sold five divisions to a new German investment firm, International Chemical Investors. The divisions--fine chemicals units in the U.S. and Germany, Rtgers Organics GmbH, the performance chemicals division of Rtgers Organics Corp., and Rtgers CarboTech--had combined sales last year of $120 million and employ 490. The fine chemicals units will be renamed WeylChem while the performance chemicals division will be renamed Nease Corp.

GE and Pall expand alliance

GE's Infrastructure, Water & Process Technologies business has expanded a clean-water alliance with Pall Corp. The two will now combine their advanced membrane technologies and separation solutions to cover more markets, including desalination, water reuse, and municipal water. In January 2004, the two agreed to combine GE's reverse-osmosis/nanofiltration systems with Pall's microfiltration/ultrafiltration technologies to serve industrial customers. GE entered the water treatment business in 2002 with the purchase of Betz Dearborn from Hercules.

BASF closes European plasticizers

Responding to a 50% drop in European demand since 2000, BASF is ending European production of the plasticizer diethylhexylphthalate and its raw material 2-ethylhexanol. Its 200,000-metric-ton-per-year 2-ethylhexanol plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany, is set to close in October. The company will continue offering these products in North America and Asia. Additionally, BASF will end production of phthalic anhydride, plasticizers, fumaric acid, and butanediol derivatives at its site in Feluy, Belgium, which it purchased in 2001 from the bankrupt Italian firm SISAS. It will, however, continue to produce maleic anhydride at the location.

Degussa targets construction ...

Degussa will invest nearly $20 million to beef up its construction systems business in Europe. The investment will expand capacity for Degussa construction chemicals at five sites in Western and Eastern Europe that make powder products such as repair mortars, tile adhesives, and grouting mortars. The investment program includes addition of two new sites. Today, Degussa makes the products at 13 sites in Europe.

... and sets MMA boost

Following its purchase of Cytec Industries' stake in the Cyro methyl methacrylate joint venture, Degussa is expanding North American capacity. Over the next few months, the company will expand its Fortier, La., plant by about 20,000 metric tons, bringing its global MMA capacity to 480,000 metric tons per year. The company is also building a new plant in Fortier that will boost its methylacrylic acid capacity by 20,000 metric tons in 2006.

BP expands solar capacity

BP is spending nearly $34 million to expand two photovoltaic manufacturing lines in Spain. In Tres Cantos, the company will expand solar cell capacity by two-thirds by the middle of next year. The company is also doubling the capacity of a module assembly plant in San Sebastin de Los Reyes. Separately, BP and fuel-cell promoter SunEdison are establishing a $60 million fund aimed at installing some 25 solar electric systems in the U.S. The fund will cover the up-front costs for qualifying municipalities and companies, which then pay a fixed rate for the power.

EU to open H2 test labs

The European Commission is opening new hydrogen and fuel-cell testing facilities. Part of the EC's Joint Research Centre, the labs are at the Institute for Energy, in Petten, the Netherlands. They will provide European Union governments and industry with independent evaluation of hydrogen and fuel-cell technologies' performance in terms of efficiency, safety, environmental friendliness, and reliability.

Cephalon buys leukemia drug

Cephalon is buying all assets related to the leukemia drug Trisenox from Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics for $69.5 million. Trisenox is approved in the U.S. and in Europe for the treatment of a type of acute myelogenous leukemia. The agreement outlines up to an additional $100 million in payments upon achievement of specified milestones. Cephalon will also receive rights to joint research with Cell Therapeutics involving proteasome inhibitors. Cell Therapeutics says Cephalon will offer employment to some of the staff of Cell Therapeutics, which is currently reorganizing. Cell Therapeutics said earlier this month that 75 employees will lose their jobs by August as part of cost-cutting measures.

Exelixis and Helsinn link

Helsinn Healthcare and Exelixis have signed a development agreement for Exelixis' cancer treatment XL119 (becatecarin) under which Helsinn will license the compound, making an up-front payment of $4 million and milestone payments of up to $21 million. Helsinn will also assume the cost of Phase III clinical trials. XL119 is currently in a 600-patient trial in the U.S. and Europe to assess the survival of patients with bile duct tumors treated with XL119 compared with that of patients treated with chemotherapy agents 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin.

Pyridine hike for Jubilant

India's Jubilant Organosys will expand its capacity for pyridine/picoline by 6,000 metric tons to 28,000 metric tons per year. The company plans to complete the expansion by September at its plant in Gajraula, near Delhi. Jubilant, which makes the raw materials acetaldehyde and formaldehyde at the same site, says it's the world's second largest producer of pyridine and picoline.

Fiber venture set for China

The synthetic fiber producer Unifi will spend $30 million on a 50-50 joint venture with Yizheng Chemical Fibre to produce specialty yarns in China. The two will launch Yihua Unifi Fibre Industry Co., to make Unifi brand yarns at an existing Yizheng facility. Unifi says it will finance the undertaking from the proceeds of the sale of its European operations. In February, the firm sold a plant in Ireland for about $25 million. Yizheng is a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemicals, better known as Sinopec.

BUSINESS ROUNDUP

  • Qiagen is buying Tianwei Times, a nucleic acid sample preparation consumables firm based in Beijing, for $2 million in cash.

  • Codexis will use its process reengineering technology to develop a new route to a pharmaceutical ingredient for India's Matrix Laboratories. Codexis struck a similar deal recently with India's Shasun Chemicals & Drugs.

  • Chiron is experiencing delays in restarting its vaccine plant in Liverpool, England. The firm now expects that it will make 18 million to 26 million doses of Fluvirin flu vaccine for the 2005-06 flu season, down from the 25 million to 30 million it earlier projected.

  • Tetra Technologies will double liquid calcium chloride capacity to 200,000 tons per year at plants in Amboy and Cadiz, Calif. The firm says the $1 million project will be complete by the end of the third quarter.

  • Royal Adhesives & Sealants has acquired Hardman Adhesives & Elastomers from Elementis for an undisclosed sum. Royal says the deal gives it annual sales of more than $75 million.

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