Business Roundup

A. Schulman has acquired the engineering plastics compounding firm Perrite Group for $52 million. Perrite had $140 million in sales last year. Schulman says the acquisition will boost its business in Asia by 35%.

FMC Corp. has acquired rights from Belgium’s Belchim Crop Protection to develop and sell the patented fungicide valifenalate in the Americas and other select countries. FMC has signed several similar license deals for specialty crop chemicals in recent years.

Innospec will acquire Chemsil Silicones and Chemtec Chemical, California-based sister companies with combined annual sales of $40 million. Chemsil produces silicones for the personal care industry; Chemtec distributes personal care ingredients.

Accelrys has acquired ChemSW, a provider of environmental health and safety compliance software, for $15.3 million. Accelrys says ChemSW’s products will complement its laboratory informatics software.

ICL and the Vietnamese firm Duc Giang are joining to mine phosphates and build downstream chemical plants in the northwestern Vietnam district of Bao Thang. ICL notes that its mining operations in Israel’s Negev desert could cease in several years with the expiration of permits.

Baxter and Coherus Biosciences will work together to develop a biosimilar version of Enbrel (etanercept) for Europe, Canada, Brazil, and some other markets. Baxter will pay Coherus $30 million up front and up to $216 million upon the completion of certain development milestones.

Agilent Technologies has opened a spectroscopy technology center in Mulgrave, Australia. Intended for interaction with research partners and customers, the $25 million center offers research and testing labs and facilities for demonstrations and training.