- Email: [email protected]
Croatian Government tries to privatise domestic carbon black producer
F O C US (12 km north of Lodz). About 150 people will be employed at the new plant. Original Source: ICIS Chemical Business, 5-11 May 2014, 285 (17), (Website: http://www.icis.com) © Reed Business Information Limited 2014
US: FMC – natural colorants FMC BioPolymers has commenced construction work on a new natural colorants blending facility at Newark, DE (70 km southwest of Philadelphia). The new facility should come onstream in December 2014. FMC has emerged as one of the world’s leading suppliers of natural colours, offering a full palette of colours obtained by blending a wide range of natural colours extracted from plants and other sources, including: annatto, anthocyanins, beta-carotene, betalains, chlorophyll, chlorophyllin, cochineal/carmine, curcumin, gardenia, lutein, lycopene, monascus, paprika and safflower/carthamus. The company already has major facilities producing natural colorants at Burton (UK) and Santiago (Chile). Anchoring FMC’s development in this product area is the research centre at Ewing, NJ (55 km northeast of Philadelphia). FMC states: “We formulate our products using active ingredients that give colours found in Nature. We are continuously searching for new raw materials with which to develop new products.” Applications for natural colorants cover a wide spectrum of food products, beverages, pet foods, cosmetics, personal care products and pharmaceuticals. FMC estimates the total North American market for natural colorants as worth about $200 M at the present time. At the same time as discussing FMC’s 1Q 2014 results, Mr Pierre Brondeau (President, CEO & Chairman) gave further details of the company’s major corporate restructuring exercise, splitting FMC into two separate companies – FMC Minerals (which will inherit the company’s business in soda ash and lithium chemicals) and FMC Agricultural Solutions (which will inherit the company’s business in crop-protection chemicals, health products, natural colorants, etc). FMC BioPolymers will be moved into a stand-along reporting segment, JULY 2014
O N
PIGMENTS
named Health & Nutrition. A new CEO will be appointed to lead FMC Minerals, while Mr Brondeau will become CEO of FMC Agricultural Solutions, also referred to as “new FMC.” Original Source: FMC Corp, 1735 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA, website: http://www.fmc.com (10 Mar & 30 Apr & 13 May 2014) © FMC 2014
COMPANIES Croatian Government tries to privatise domestic carbon black producer The Government of Croatia has so far been unable to complete the next stage in the privatisation of Petrokemija, the country’s largest producer of fertilisers and its only producer of carbon black. Petrokemija’s major chemical complex is located at Kutina , 80 km southeast of Zagreb) and it includes a 40,000 tonnes/y carbon black plant based on natural gas. The company employs 2294 people altogether. In 2013, Petrokemija reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at minus Kuna 203 M on sales revenues of Kuna 2.55 bn (equivalent to $36.5 M on $459 M), which represented a sharp decline from minus Kuna 53 M on Kuna 2.93 bn ($9.5 M on $527 M) in 2012. At present, the State Property Fund has a 43.8% shareholding in Petrokemija, while most of the rest of the equity is held by banks and other financial institutions, some of which are also State-controlled. The Government, headed by Mr Zoran Milanovic since December 2011, had held a tender inviting firm offers for a majority stake in Petrokemija. The objective was to reduce the Government’s total stake to 25% plus one share and the closing date for the tender was 12 March 2014. Three companies – Agrofert (of the Czech Republic), Nitrogenmüvek (of Hungary) and Borealis (of Austria) – had expressed initial interest, but in the end none of them filed a definitive offer. Original Source: Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 31 Mar 2014, (670), (Website: http://www.industrie.com/chimie/) (in French) © ETAI Information 2014
Gelest appoints Kelly as distributor for Taiwan & China Gelest Inc (headquartered in Morrisville, PA) has appointed Kelly Chemical (headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan) as its exclusive distributor for the Taiwanese market for the entire range of Gelest products. Kelly Chemical has also been appointed as Gelest’s distributor for the Mainland Chinese market, on an exclusive basis for commercial products and on a non-exclusive basis for research products. Gelest is one of the world’s leading suppliers of silanes, silicones and organo-metallic compounds, including certain speciality fillers and pigments, marketed for applications in surface coatings, paints, inks, cosmetics, adhesives, sealants, electronics and other end-use sectors. Gelest is an acronym for germanium, lead, silicon and tin (the Group 14 elements in the Periodic Table). Kelly Chemical was established in 1965 as a manufacturer of speciality colorants. It now has seven manufacturing facilities, including five in China and one in Vietnam. The company has also become a significant distributor for other company’s products thanks to its network of 14 sales offices in China, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Original Source: Gelest Inc, 11 East Steel Road, Morrisville, PA 19067, USA, website: http://www.gelest.com (13 Mar 2014) © Gelest 2014. Original Source: Kelly Chemical Corp, 9F-155, Sec 1, Keelung Road, Taipei, Taiwan, website: http://www.kellychemical.com (13 Mar 2014) © Kelly Chemical 2014
Permira buys Cabb Chemicals from Bridgepoint The ownership of Cabb Chemicals (formerly Clariant Acetyl Building Blocks) is about to change hands yet again. Towards the end of April 2014, terms were agreed between two London-based private equity firms and the transaction should be completed before the end of June 2014. The Permira group is acquiring Cabb Chemicals from Bridgepoint Capital, but the value of the transaction has not been disclosed. Cabb Chemicals is one of Europe’s largest suppliers of fine chemicals, including a number of products that are used as intermediates in the
5
US: FMC – natural colorants FMC BioPolymers has commenced construction work on a new natural colorants blending facility at Newark, DE (70 km southwest of Philadelphia). The new facility should come onstream in December 2014. FMC has emerged as one of the world’s leading suppliers of natural colours, offering a full palette of colours obtained by blending a wide range of natural colours extracted from plants and other sources, including: annatto, anthocyanins, beta-carotene, betalains, chlorophyll, chlorophyllin, cochineal/carmine, curcumin, gardenia, lutein, lycopene, monascus, paprika and safflower/carthamus. The company already has major facilities producing natural colorants at Burton (UK) and Santiago (Chile). Anchoring FMC’s development in this product area is the research centre at Ewing, NJ (55 km northeast of Philadelphia). FMC states: “We formulate our products using active ingredients that give colours found in Nature. We are continuously searching for new raw materials with which to develop new products.” Applications for natural colorants cover a wide spectrum of food products, beverages, pet foods, cosmetics, personal care products and pharmaceuticals. FMC estimates the total North American market for natural colorants as worth about $200 M at the present time. At the same time as discussing FMC’s 1Q 2014 results, Mr Pierre Brondeau (President, CEO & Chairman) gave further details of the company’s major corporate restructuring exercise, splitting FMC into two separate companies – FMC Minerals (which will inherit the company’s business in soda ash and lithium chemicals) and FMC Agricultural Solutions (which will inherit the company’s business in crop-protection chemicals, health products, natural colorants, etc). FMC BioPolymers will be moved into a stand-along reporting segment, JULY 2014
O N
PIGMENTS
named Health & Nutrition. A new CEO will be appointed to lead FMC Minerals, while Mr Brondeau will become CEO of FMC Agricultural Solutions, also referred to as “new FMC.” Original Source: FMC Corp, 1735 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA, website: http://www.fmc.com (10 Mar & 30 Apr & 13 May 2014) © FMC 2014
COMPANIES Croatian Government tries to privatise domestic carbon black producer The Government of Croatia has so far been unable to complete the next stage in the privatisation of Petrokemija, the country’s largest producer of fertilisers and its only producer of carbon black. Petrokemija’s major chemical complex is located at Kutina , 80 km southeast of Zagreb) and it includes a 40,000 tonnes/y carbon black plant based on natural gas. The company employs 2294 people altogether. In 2013, Petrokemija reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at minus Kuna 203 M on sales revenues of Kuna 2.55 bn (equivalent to $36.5 M on $459 M), which represented a sharp decline from minus Kuna 53 M on Kuna 2.93 bn ($9.5 M on $527 M) in 2012. At present, the State Property Fund has a 43.8% shareholding in Petrokemija, while most of the rest of the equity is held by banks and other financial institutions, some of which are also State-controlled. The Government, headed by Mr Zoran Milanovic since December 2011, had held a tender inviting firm offers for a majority stake in Petrokemija. The objective was to reduce the Government’s total stake to 25% plus one share and the closing date for the tender was 12 March 2014. Three companies – Agrofert (of the Czech Republic), Nitrogenmüvek (of Hungary) and Borealis (of Austria) – had expressed initial interest, but in the end none of them filed a definitive offer. Original Source: Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 31 Mar 2014, (670), (Website: http://www.industrie.com/chimie/) (in French) © ETAI Information 2014
Gelest appoints Kelly as distributor for Taiwan & China Gelest Inc (headquartered in Morrisville, PA) has appointed Kelly Chemical (headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan) as its exclusive distributor for the Taiwanese market for the entire range of Gelest products. Kelly Chemical has also been appointed as Gelest’s distributor for the Mainland Chinese market, on an exclusive basis for commercial products and on a non-exclusive basis for research products. Gelest is one of the world’s leading suppliers of silanes, silicones and organo-metallic compounds, including certain speciality fillers and pigments, marketed for applications in surface coatings, paints, inks, cosmetics, adhesives, sealants, electronics and other end-use sectors. Gelest is an acronym for germanium, lead, silicon and tin (the Group 14 elements in the Periodic Table). Kelly Chemical was established in 1965 as a manufacturer of speciality colorants. It now has seven manufacturing facilities, including five in China and one in Vietnam. The company has also become a significant distributor for other company’s products thanks to its network of 14 sales offices in China, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Original Source: Gelest Inc, 11 East Steel Road, Morrisville, PA 19067, USA, website: http://www.gelest.com (13 Mar 2014) © Gelest 2014. Original Source: Kelly Chemical Corp, 9F-155, Sec 1, Keelung Road, Taipei, Taiwan, website: http://www.kellychemical.com (13 Mar 2014) © Kelly Chemical 2014
Permira buys Cabb Chemicals from Bridgepoint The ownership of Cabb Chemicals (formerly Clariant Acetyl Building Blocks) is about to change hands yet again. Towards the end of April 2014, terms were agreed between two London-based private equity firms and the transaction should be completed before the end of June 2014. The Permira group is acquiring Cabb Chemicals from Bridgepoint Capital, but the value of the transaction has not been disclosed. Cabb Chemicals is one of Europe’s largest suppliers of fine chemicals, including a number of products that are used as intermediates in the
5