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Kerr McGee hives off chemicals business as Tronox Inc
F O C US In another cost-cutting move, PolyOne has arranged to sell a majority shareholding in its engineered films business unit to members of the existing plant management, supported by the Matrix Capital Markets investor group. PolyOne will retain a minority shareholding. This business unit, with plants at Winchester (Virginia) and Lebanon (Pennsylvania), generated sales revenues of $126 M in full-year 2004. Announcing this move, PolyOne stated that it intends to focus on its core businesses – plastics compounding, colorants and additives. European Chemical News, 3 Oct 2005, 83 (2165), 11 & Plastics News, 14 Oct 2005, (Website: http://www.plasticsnews.com)
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“Altana consists of a volatile but dynamic pharmaceuticals business, and a robust and profitable chemicals business. The two parts are each strong enough to be independent. A large acquisition (ie the Eckart acquisition) makes us attractive to the capital markets.” Ms Susanne Klatten, a member of the billionaire Quandt family, owns 50.1% of the shares in Altana, while the other 49.9% are traded on the Frankfurt and New York Stock Exchanges. Handelsblatt Wirtschafts- und Finanzzeitung, 5 Oct 2005, 40 (192), 14 (in German) & Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 17 Oct 2005, (314), 11 (in French)
Clariant renews Allessa’s contract
COMPANIES Altana buys Eckart Following approval from the German anti-trust authorities, Altana (of Bad Homberg) completed its €630 M acquisition of Eckart GmbH on 1 October 2005. Eckart is a leading supplier in the €800 M global metallic pigments market, employing 1855 people worldwide. It has manufacturing facilities at: Güntersthal and Wackersdorf (Germany); Rivanazzano and Porto Marghera (Italy); Louisville, KY and Painesville, OH (United States); Pori (Finland); and Vétroz (Switzerland). Aluminium pigments account for about 54% of Eckart’s total revenue, the other 46% coming from other metallic pigments and printing inks. The acquisition of Eckart raises Altana Chemie’s pro forma tunover to €1.2 bn. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Oct 2005, 5). Rhenania Coatings (a subsidiary of Altana, based in Grevenbroich) recently sold its coil coatings business to BASF for an undisclosed sum. In 2004, this business generated a turnover of €8 M. In the US, Altana recently completed the acquisition of Kelstar International, a manufacturer of water-based and ultraviolet-curable overprint coatings for packaging paper and board. Kelstar has about 100 employees and reported sales revenues of $48.5 M in 2004. It now seems certain that Altana will next year float off Altana Chemie as a separate entity. Mr Matthias Wolfgruber (President and CEO) said:
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Allessa Chemie was created in 2001 when Clariant floated off Casella as an independent entity, with ownership of 12 production units producing a number of speciality chemicals, including pigments, dyes and intermediates at three locations near Frankfurt – Fechenheim, Offenbach and Griesheim. At the time of its creation, Clariant awarded Allessa a five-year contract for the purchase of various non-GMP intermediates. Mr Karl Gerhard (CEO of Allessa) recently declared that the long-term contract has just been renewed in respect of colorant intermediates, but not in respect of certain agrochemicals, which Clariant will in future source from Asia. Speciality Chemicals, Sep 2005, 25 (7), 12
Dominion Colour buys Holliday’s pigment dispersions business Dominion Colour Corp (DCC, of Canada) has acquired Holliday Dispersions (part of the Hull-based Holliday group, which is in turn owned by Yule Catto). Holliday Dispersions will continue to operate its facilities at Rossendale (Lancashire, UK) producing pigment dispersions. Apparently, there had been an approach to DCC to support a local management buy-out. The transaction was actually effected by Gemini Dispersions Ltd, newly created as a subsidiary of DCC. PPCJ, Polymers, Paint, Colour Journal, Sep 2005, 195 (4492), 4
Heraeus acquires BASF’s business in ceramic & glassware colorants Thw Heraeus group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of decorative colorants for ceramics and glassware, has acquired BASF’s business in this field for an undisclosed sum. Production will be transferred to the existing Heraeus Schauer factory in Vienna. There will be no transfer of production facilities, employees or brandnames. The deal excludes BASF’s SicoceraF range of colorants for the floor tile sector. Press Release from: BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany, Website: http://media.basf.com (20 Oct 2005)
Imerys buys DAM (kaolin producer) The Nord Est SA group (of Paris) is a major industrial conglomerate, with annual sales of the order of €450 M, of which 56% is derived from packaging, 30% from metals and minerals and 14% from electrical/ electronic components and keyboards. The main businesses in the metals and minerals sector are: Cogebi (which specialises in mica); Cie Minière de Touissit (which mines and smelts lead, zinc and silver ores); and Denain-Anzin Mineraux (DAM). In early April 2005, the group announced that it was in negotiations with potential buyers for the DAM business, which reported 2004 sales revenue at €85 M. The company’s activities are mainly based in France, but it also operates in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany. Its overall capacities are: 300,000 tonnes/y of kaolin; 800,000 tonnes/y of feldspar; 350,000 tonnes/y of quartz; and 18,000 tonnes/y of mica. Towards the end of October, Imerys confirmed that it had paid €55.7 M to acquire DAM. Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 26 Sep 2005, (312), 9 (in French) & Press Release from: Imerys, Website: http://www.imerys.com (28 Oct 2005)
Kerr McGee hives off chemicals business as Tronox Inc On 6 October 2005, Kerr McGee formally declared that it will float off its chemicals business as Tronox Inc, with an initial public offering (IPO) of
NOVEMBER 2005
F O C US shares equivalent to 43.3% of the equity in Tronox. The net sales proceeds should be of the order of $316-364 M. At some time during 2006, Kerr McGee intends to sell all its remaining shares in Tronox so as to become a “pure-play” oil and natural gas production and exploration company. As the inheritor of Kerr McGee’s chemical assets, Tronox will have 2150 employees worldwide, of which 1260 in the US, 860 in Europe and 30 in Australia. Its pro forma sales revenue for full-year 2004 was $1.302 bn, of which 93% was derived from TiO2 pigments and allied products. Tronox is the world’s third largest TiO2 pigment supplier. It produced 602,024 tonnes of TiO2 pigment in 2004 at plants in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and the US. This represented 91% of the group’s effective capacity. For January/September 2005, Tronox reported an operating profit of $80.2 M, compared against an operating loss of $91.4 M for January/ September 2004, a result which was severely affected by the charge of $122.5 M related to the plant shutdown at Savannah, GA. TiO2 Worldwide Update, Oct 2005, 13 (4/5), 31
PKN Orlen reconsiders selling interests in Synthesia & other ex-Unipetrol assets to Agrofert Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen (PKN Orlen) was created in September 1999, inheriting various State-owned assets, including the oil refinery at Plock in central Poland and various petrochemical businesses. The enterprise was privatised in November 1999, when it took a listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. It has subsequently expanded by a series of acquisitions, one of the most recent being the acquisition from the Czech Government of a 62.99% majority shareholding in Unipetrol (of the Czech Republic). This deal, completed in mid-2004, valued the whole of Unipetrol at about €500 M. It has been alleged subsequently that the true value of Unipetrol’s assets was more like €730 M. It seems that prior to completing the acquisition, PKN Orlen had agreed to sell certain Unipetrol businesses at relatively modest valuations to Agrofert (of
NOVEMBER 2005
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Prague). Mr Zbigniew Wrobel resigned as Chief Executive of PKN Orlen in June 2004, soon after the allegations of mischief first surfaced. Two more PKN Orlen directors resigned in October 2004. Mr Igor Chalupec is now Chief Executive at PKN Orlen, heading a new management team. Under the “secret agreement”, Agrofert was due to pay PKN Orlen €103 M to buy Kaucuk (Unipetrol’s synthetic rubber business) plus a 60% stake in Paramo (the fuel and lubricants business) plus a 40% stake in Chemopetrol (petrochemicals) plus a 39% stake in Agrobohemie (fertilisers) and a 39% stake in Aliachem (speciality chemicals). Synthesia (of Pardubice) – the country’s leading supplier of azo pigments and high-performance organic pigments – is an important part of the Aliachem group. The purchase of an interest in Synthesia would extend Agrofert’s role in the pigments industry: Agrofert already indirectly owns Precheza (the Czech TiO2 pigment producer) and Deza (with interests in the Czech carbon black plant). In September 2005, the new management at PKN Orlen stated that they wanted to renegotiate the agreement with Agrofert. In response, Agrofert stated that it would not consider renegotiation and would demand a penalty payment of €75 M from PKN Orlen if it failed to complete the deal. Meanwhile, PKN is keen to integrate the operations of its whollyowned subsidiary Anwil with those of Unipetrol’s Spolana business. Both Anwil and Spolana are major suppliers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PKN Orlen has also established an alliance with the Zorlu group (a major Turkish industrial conglomerate) in order to acquire a 51% stake in Tupras, the Turkish oil company, which is currently state-controlled. Tupras has a single petrochemicals complex – operated by Korfez Petrochemicals – which produces 33,000 tonnes/y of butadiene; 20,000 tonnes/y of polybutadiene; 27,000 tonnes/y polystyrene; 33,000 tonnes/y styrene; and 40,000 tonnes/y of carbon black. Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 12 Sep 2005, (310), 9 (in French) & European Chemical News, 24 Oct 2005, 83 (2168), 10
Tomen to help boost Kerr-McGee’s share of Japan’s TiO2 market to 15% Tomen Plastics Corp has been appointed by Kerr McGee to sell Tronox TiO2 pigments in the Japanese market. Initially, Tomen will focus on customers in the resins and masterbatch sectors, but it will also have the opportunity to sell to paintmakers and inkmakers. According to Tomen, Japan’s current consumption of TiO2 pigment is around 230,000 tonnes/y. Tomen intends to take a 5% market share by 2008. Kerr-McGee has a global market share of about 15% and it is aiming to increase its share of the Japanese market to 15% also. Most of the Tronox pigment supplied to Japan will be sourced from the 110,000 tonnes/y pigment plant at Kwinana in Western Australia. Japan Chemical Week, 29 Sep 2005, 46 (2336), 4
Williamson acquires Artemis’ natural food colorants business DD Williamson (of Louisville, KY) has acquired the natural food colorants business of Artemis International (of Fort Wayne, IN). Mr Jan Mills will be retained as Vice President, Natural Colors, for technical support and a smooth transition for customers. At the same time and for the long term, Mr Mills will remain President of Artemis International, which will now focus on its business of “providing nutraceutical ingredients and developing proprietary formulas to meet targeted health needs.” The addition of the Artemis range of natural colorants will broaden the company’s product portfolio in supplying the same customer base. Williamson is the world’s largest supplier of caramel colorants, with seven plants in the US, the UK, Eire, China, Swaziland and Brazil. Caramel colorants are manufactured from the controlled heat treatment of carbohydrates and they represent the world’s most widely consumed food colorants (by weight). Williamson sells caramel colorants to manufacturers of beverages, flavours, sauces, gravies, soups, baked goods, dry mixes, pet foods and pharmaceuticals. It recently launched the first US-certified “organic food colour” derived from caramel and it will show the US
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“Altana consists of a volatile but dynamic pharmaceuticals business, and a robust and profitable chemicals business. The two parts are each strong enough to be independent. A large acquisition (ie the Eckart acquisition) makes us attractive to the capital markets.” Ms Susanne Klatten, a member of the billionaire Quandt family, owns 50.1% of the shares in Altana, while the other 49.9% are traded on the Frankfurt and New York Stock Exchanges. Handelsblatt Wirtschafts- und Finanzzeitung, 5 Oct 2005, 40 (192), 14 (in German) & Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 17 Oct 2005, (314), 11 (in French)
Clariant renews Allessa’s contract
COMPANIES Altana buys Eckart Following approval from the German anti-trust authorities, Altana (of Bad Homberg) completed its €630 M acquisition of Eckart GmbH on 1 October 2005. Eckart is a leading supplier in the €800 M global metallic pigments market, employing 1855 people worldwide. It has manufacturing facilities at: Güntersthal and Wackersdorf (Germany); Rivanazzano and Porto Marghera (Italy); Louisville, KY and Painesville, OH (United States); Pori (Finland); and Vétroz (Switzerland). Aluminium pigments account for about 54% of Eckart’s total revenue, the other 46% coming from other metallic pigments and printing inks. The acquisition of Eckart raises Altana Chemie’s pro forma tunover to €1.2 bn. (See also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Oct 2005, 5). Rhenania Coatings (a subsidiary of Altana, based in Grevenbroich) recently sold its coil coatings business to BASF for an undisclosed sum. In 2004, this business generated a turnover of €8 M. In the US, Altana recently completed the acquisition of Kelstar International, a manufacturer of water-based and ultraviolet-curable overprint coatings for packaging paper and board. Kelstar has about 100 employees and reported sales revenues of $48.5 M in 2004. It now seems certain that Altana will next year float off Altana Chemie as a separate entity. Mr Matthias Wolfgruber (President and CEO) said:
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Allessa Chemie was created in 2001 when Clariant floated off Casella as an independent entity, with ownership of 12 production units producing a number of speciality chemicals, including pigments, dyes and intermediates at three locations near Frankfurt – Fechenheim, Offenbach and Griesheim. At the time of its creation, Clariant awarded Allessa a five-year contract for the purchase of various non-GMP intermediates. Mr Karl Gerhard (CEO of Allessa) recently declared that the long-term contract has just been renewed in respect of colorant intermediates, but not in respect of certain agrochemicals, which Clariant will in future source from Asia. Speciality Chemicals, Sep 2005, 25 (7), 12
Dominion Colour buys Holliday’s pigment dispersions business Dominion Colour Corp (DCC, of Canada) has acquired Holliday Dispersions (part of the Hull-based Holliday group, which is in turn owned by Yule Catto). Holliday Dispersions will continue to operate its facilities at Rossendale (Lancashire, UK) producing pigment dispersions. Apparently, there had been an approach to DCC to support a local management buy-out. The transaction was actually effected by Gemini Dispersions Ltd, newly created as a subsidiary of DCC. PPCJ, Polymers, Paint, Colour Journal, Sep 2005, 195 (4492), 4
Heraeus acquires BASF’s business in ceramic & glassware colorants Thw Heraeus group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of decorative colorants for ceramics and glassware, has acquired BASF’s business in this field for an undisclosed sum. Production will be transferred to the existing Heraeus Schauer factory in Vienna. There will be no transfer of production facilities, employees or brandnames. The deal excludes BASF’s SicoceraF range of colorants for the floor tile sector. Press Release from: BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany, Website: http://media.basf.com (20 Oct 2005)
Imerys buys DAM (kaolin producer) The Nord Est SA group (of Paris) is a major industrial conglomerate, with annual sales of the order of €450 M, of which 56% is derived from packaging, 30% from metals and minerals and 14% from electrical/ electronic components and keyboards. The main businesses in the metals and minerals sector are: Cogebi (which specialises in mica); Cie Minière de Touissit (which mines and smelts lead, zinc and silver ores); and Denain-Anzin Mineraux (DAM). In early April 2005, the group announced that it was in negotiations with potential buyers for the DAM business, which reported 2004 sales revenue at €85 M. The company’s activities are mainly based in France, but it also operates in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany. Its overall capacities are: 300,000 tonnes/y of kaolin; 800,000 tonnes/y of feldspar; 350,000 tonnes/y of quartz; and 18,000 tonnes/y of mica. Towards the end of October, Imerys confirmed that it had paid €55.7 M to acquire DAM. Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 26 Sep 2005, (312), 9 (in French) & Press Release from: Imerys, Website: http://www.imerys.com (28 Oct 2005)
Kerr McGee hives off chemicals business as Tronox Inc On 6 October 2005, Kerr McGee formally declared that it will float off its chemicals business as Tronox Inc, with an initial public offering (IPO) of
NOVEMBER 2005
F O C US shares equivalent to 43.3% of the equity in Tronox. The net sales proceeds should be of the order of $316-364 M. At some time during 2006, Kerr McGee intends to sell all its remaining shares in Tronox so as to become a “pure-play” oil and natural gas production and exploration company. As the inheritor of Kerr McGee’s chemical assets, Tronox will have 2150 employees worldwide, of which 1260 in the US, 860 in Europe and 30 in Australia. Its pro forma sales revenue for full-year 2004 was $1.302 bn, of which 93% was derived from TiO2 pigments and allied products. Tronox is the world’s third largest TiO2 pigment supplier. It produced 602,024 tonnes of TiO2 pigment in 2004 at plants in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and the US. This represented 91% of the group’s effective capacity. For January/September 2005, Tronox reported an operating profit of $80.2 M, compared against an operating loss of $91.4 M for January/ September 2004, a result which was severely affected by the charge of $122.5 M related to the plant shutdown at Savannah, GA. TiO2 Worldwide Update, Oct 2005, 13 (4/5), 31
PKN Orlen reconsiders selling interests in Synthesia & other ex-Unipetrol assets to Agrofert Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen (PKN Orlen) was created in September 1999, inheriting various State-owned assets, including the oil refinery at Plock in central Poland and various petrochemical businesses. The enterprise was privatised in November 1999, when it took a listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. It has subsequently expanded by a series of acquisitions, one of the most recent being the acquisition from the Czech Government of a 62.99% majority shareholding in Unipetrol (of the Czech Republic). This deal, completed in mid-2004, valued the whole of Unipetrol at about €500 M. It has been alleged subsequently that the true value of Unipetrol’s assets was more like €730 M. It seems that prior to completing the acquisition, PKN Orlen had agreed to sell certain Unipetrol businesses at relatively modest valuations to Agrofert (of
NOVEMBER 2005
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Prague). Mr Zbigniew Wrobel resigned as Chief Executive of PKN Orlen in June 2004, soon after the allegations of mischief first surfaced. Two more PKN Orlen directors resigned in October 2004. Mr Igor Chalupec is now Chief Executive at PKN Orlen, heading a new management team. Under the “secret agreement”, Agrofert was due to pay PKN Orlen €103 M to buy Kaucuk (Unipetrol’s synthetic rubber business) plus a 60% stake in Paramo (the fuel and lubricants business) plus a 40% stake in Chemopetrol (petrochemicals) plus a 39% stake in Agrobohemie (fertilisers) and a 39% stake in Aliachem (speciality chemicals). Synthesia (of Pardubice) – the country’s leading supplier of azo pigments and high-performance organic pigments – is an important part of the Aliachem group. The purchase of an interest in Synthesia would extend Agrofert’s role in the pigments industry: Agrofert already indirectly owns Precheza (the Czech TiO2 pigment producer) and Deza (with interests in the Czech carbon black plant). In September 2005, the new management at PKN Orlen stated that they wanted to renegotiate the agreement with Agrofert. In response, Agrofert stated that it would not consider renegotiation and would demand a penalty payment of €75 M from PKN Orlen if it failed to complete the deal. Meanwhile, PKN is keen to integrate the operations of its whollyowned subsidiary Anwil with those of Unipetrol’s Spolana business. Both Anwil and Spolana are major suppliers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PKN Orlen has also established an alliance with the Zorlu group (a major Turkish industrial conglomerate) in order to acquire a 51% stake in Tupras, the Turkish oil company, which is currently state-controlled. Tupras has a single petrochemicals complex – operated by Korfez Petrochemicals – which produces 33,000 tonnes/y of butadiene; 20,000 tonnes/y of polybutadiene; 27,000 tonnes/y polystyrene; 33,000 tonnes/y styrene; and 40,000 tonnes/y of carbon black. Chimie Pharma Hebdo, 12 Sep 2005, (310), 9 (in French) & European Chemical News, 24 Oct 2005, 83 (2168), 10
Tomen to help boost Kerr-McGee’s share of Japan’s TiO2 market to 15% Tomen Plastics Corp has been appointed by Kerr McGee to sell Tronox TiO2 pigments in the Japanese market. Initially, Tomen will focus on customers in the resins and masterbatch sectors, but it will also have the opportunity to sell to paintmakers and inkmakers. According to Tomen, Japan’s current consumption of TiO2 pigment is around 230,000 tonnes/y. Tomen intends to take a 5% market share by 2008. Kerr-McGee has a global market share of about 15% and it is aiming to increase its share of the Japanese market to 15% also. Most of the Tronox pigment supplied to Japan will be sourced from the 110,000 tonnes/y pigment plant at Kwinana in Western Australia. Japan Chemical Week, 29 Sep 2005, 46 (2336), 4
Williamson acquires Artemis’ natural food colorants business DD Williamson (of Louisville, KY) has acquired the natural food colorants business of Artemis International (of Fort Wayne, IN). Mr Jan Mills will be retained as Vice President, Natural Colors, for technical support and a smooth transition for customers. At the same time and for the long term, Mr Mills will remain President of Artemis International, which will now focus on its business of “providing nutraceutical ingredients and developing proprietary formulas to meet targeted health needs.” The addition of the Artemis range of natural colorants will broaden the company’s product portfolio in supplying the same customer base. Williamson is the world’s largest supplier of caramel colorants, with seven plants in the US, the UK, Eire, China, Swaziland and Brazil. Caramel colorants are manufactured from the controlled heat treatment of carbohydrates and they represent the world’s most widely consumed food colorants (by weight). Williamson sells caramel colorants to manufacturers of beverages, flavours, sauces, gravies, soups, baked goods, dry mixes, pet foods and pharmaceuticals. It recently launched the first US-certified “organic food colour” derived from caramel and it will show the US
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