Business Roundup

Gail, an Indian firm that processes natural gas, plans to spend $7.2 billion to build an ethane-based ethylene cracker complex in Ashta, India, according to local reports. The plant will have 1.5 million metric tons per year of ethylene capacity.

Cepsa, the energy group, has started building the first isopropyl alcohol plant in Spain that will use green hydrogen as a raw material. Set to open in late 2025, the facility will cost $81 million and have a capacity of up to 80,000 metric tons per year.

Merck KGaA is investing $67 million to create a quality control center for its life science activities at its headquarters site in Darmstadt, Germany. Due to open in mid-2025, the new facility will accomodate 135 staff currently located across several departments.

Gauzy, a leading manufacturer of electrochromic window films, has raised $75 million in an initial public offering. The firm is already a major supplier of color-changing windows for airlines and is expanding its offerings for commercial and residential windows.

Aeropowder has raised $191,000 from the venture capital firm British Design Fund for its feather-based packaging insulation. The firm’s first product is a thermal blanket that can replace polystyrene foam in cold-pack shipping boxes like those used by grocery delivery services.

Materials Nexus, a UK-based start-up, has used artificial intelligence to design a powerful magnet that doesn’t use rare earth elements. Rare earth magnets are used in electric motors, and production is highly concentrated in China.

FMC has named Pierre Brondeau, its CEO from 2010 to 2020, CEO again; he is also FMC’s board chairman. Brondeau succeeds CEO Mark Douglas, who has stepped down after 14 years with the firm.

Formosa Laboratories, a Taiwan-based pharmaceutical chemical firm, has acquired SynChem, a contract research lab in the Chicago area. Formosa says SynChem will help it become a leading US drug services firm for small molecules and antibody-drug conjugates.