Business Roundup

Sichuan Hebang, a Chinese chemical firm, plans to buy a 51% stake in the Stockton Group, an Israeli agrochemical maker, for $90 million. The investment will allow Stockton to boost biopesticide research. Another Chinese firm, ChemChina, bought control of the Israel agrochemicals giant Adama in 2011.

Ineos is building a 20,000-metric-ton-per-year poly(α-olefins) plant in La Porte, Texas, scheduled to start up next year. The company will use its metallocene-catalyzed high-viscosity PαO technology, which it introduced three years ago.

Borealis plans to spend $180 million to upgrade four furnaces at its Stenungsund, Sweden, ethylene cracker by 2020. It will also shutter two aging furnaces at the site. The investments are in addition to the firm’s previously announced plans to import cheap U.S. ethane to the site.

Versalis, the chemical arm of Italy’s Eni, will work with two sister Chinese firms, Ecombine and EVE Rubber Institute, to develop elastomers for the tire market. The companies hope to enable tires with improved mechanical and environmental performance.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the largest Middle Eastern chemical firm, will collaborate with the National University of Singapore on research in chemistry, chemical engineering, and materials science. SABIC claims a portfolio of more than 10,000 patents.

Plant Impact, a U.K.-based developer of biological crop treatments, will work with Arysta LifeScience to market a new product, Banzai, to West African cocoa growers. Applied as a foliar spray, Banzai can reduce the loss of cocoa pods to diseases such as black pod, the firms say.

ACD/Labs, a Toronto-based chemistry software company, and IDBS, a provider of R&D software, have joined to improve data collection automation in the lab. An initial effort will allow scientists to bring live spectral, chromatographic, and curve data into their electronic laboratory notebooks, the partners say.

Celgene plans to acquire the former Merck & Co. site in Summit, N.J. Merck acquired the site in 2009 as part of its acquisition of Schering-Plough but vacated it a few years later. Celgene is based two miles away on the other side of Summit.

Incyte and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center have formed a multiyear pact under which Incyte will fund some of Vanderbilt’s cancer research activities. The partners hope to improve their understanding of cancer biology and the mechanisms of certain Incyte compounds.