Business Roundup

Dow Corning will spend $5 million to expand its silicone compounding operations in Kendallville, Ind. The project will increase mixing and extruding capabilities and add more than 20 employees to the 100-plus employee site.

Perstorp, the Swedish specialty chemical maker, has sold its YLA thermoset composites subsidiary to TenCate Advanced Composites for $32 million. Based in Benicia, Calif., YLA makes lightweight composites for the aerospace market and has annual sales of about $24 million.

BASF will supply its triticonazole fungicide to Bayer for turf and landscape applications in the U.S. and Canada. BASF retains all rights to the active ingredient, which it sells as Trinity.

Danisco, the Danish food ingredients maker, has acquired British emulsifiers producer Abitec from Associated British Foods for an undisclosed sum. Abitec, based in Northampton, England, manufactures emulsifiers and medium-chain triglycerides. It has annual sales of about $40 million.

Honeywell Electronic Materials and the U.S. Display Consortium have formed a $500,000 agreement to develop materials for flexible electronics. The materials, for devices to be used by the U.S. military, will be tested at the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University.

Sigma-Aldrich will distribute Lumidots, or luminescent quantum dot nanocrystals, made by Nanoco Technologies, a spin-off company from England's University of Manchester. It will offer research quantities of seven semiconductor quantum dots. Nanoco can make larger quantities available for application or commercial development.

Nabi Biopharmaceuticals has hired Banc of America to help it explore strategic alternatives, with a focus on selling the company. New Nabi CEO Raafat Fahim says the process will help the company advance its NicVax and StaphVax vaccines.

Süd-Chemie, with headquarters in Munich, and Alvigo, an Estonian catalyst maker, have formed a joint venture, Süd-Chemie Alvigo Catalysts. Süd-Chemie will own 60% of the venture, which includes Alvigo's entire catalyst operation in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The operation employs more than 300 people.

Azopharma Product Development Group, based in Miramar, Fla., will become the "center of excellence" for developing products based on Accu-Break Pharmaceuticals' new tableting technology. The technology creates an inactive break layer in drug tablets, allowing them to be broken into accurate partial doses.