Indian firms strike flurry of deals in the US 

In the chemical world, deals have been slow to come by this year, but Indian companies appear to be an exception. In the past few weeks, several Indian chemical manufacturers and pharmaceutical services firms have made notable investments in the US.

Aditya Birla Group, one of India's largest conglomerates, has acquired Cargill's specialty chemical plant in Dalton, Georgia. Aditya Birla, which bought its first US chemical facilities in 2011, already has 17 manufacturing units in the country.

Aditya Birla says in a press release that it plans to almost triple the Georgia facility’s capacity over the next 2 years. The company will continue to manufacture formulated resins, curing agents, reactive diluents, and other specialty chemicals at the site, it adds.

A few weeks ago, Novopor Advanced Science, an Indian specialty chemical maker backed by the private equity firm Bain Capital, acquired Pittsburgh-based Pressure Chemical for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will help expand Novopor’s high-pressure chemistry and complex specialty manufacturing capabilities, the Indian company says in a press release.

Indian pharmaceutical services firms are also increasing their footprint in the US. On June 3, Zydus Lifesciences acquired biologics facilities in Emeryville and Berkeley, California, for an up-front payment of $75 million from Agenus, an immunotherapy developer. “This strategic move enables Zydus to leverage supply chain dynamics and a favourable geopolitical environment to expand its reach in the U.S. and globally,” Zydus says in a statement.

And Syngene, another Indian firm serving the drug industry, recently paid $36.5 million to acquire Emergent BioSolutions’ facility in Baltimore. Syngene says the biologic drug plant is its first manufacturing facility in the US.

Ravi Raghavan, founder of Chemical Weekly, a magazine focused on the Indian chemical industry, says the investments are nothing new for Indian companies, particularly those in the pharma services sector. “The US is one of the biggest markets for Indian pharma and drug services companies,” he says.

Raghavan is more struck by a $200 million-plus investment by the Indian company Thirumalai Chemicals to build a plant in West Virginia to manufacture maleic anhydride and two of its derivative food ingredients, malic acid and fumaric acid. In a recent presentation, Thirumalai said the plant, set to open next year, will enjoy favorable market conditions because of US tariffs on chemical imports.