NEWS OF THE WEEK BUSINESS
CIBA SNAPS UP RAISIO CHEMICALS Swiss firm aims for a broader reach in paper chemicals
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SMALL SCALE Pilot paper plant at Raisio's Turku, Finland, site mimics full-scale operations.
ESS THAN A WEEK AFTER Ac-
quiring Pira International, a UK.-based supplier of services to the paper and packaging industries, Ciba Specialty Chemicals agreed to spend about $580
HOMELAND
million to acquire paper chemicals specialist Raisio Chemicals. The unit is the chemicals arm of Finnish pulp and paper producer Raisio Group. T h e deal, expected to be wrapped up this fall, will bring Ciba about $515 million in annual sales of paper binding, sizing, and strengthening chemicals. Ciba already runs a water and paper treatment division with sales of just over $1 billion last year. The expanded division will contribute roughly 27% of the company's sales, up from 20% in 2003. For Ciba, the acquisition helps fulfill a goal of gaining a stronger geographical reach in the paper
SECURITY
BUFFERING CRITICAL ASSETS DHS, local law enforcement develop security plans for sensitive sites
T ON GUARD Barricades block the entrance to a chemical plant in Kearny, N.J., in response to an elevated terror alert. 6
C&EN / MARCH
29.
HE DEPARTMENT OF HOME-
land Security is working with local law enforcement to develop security response plans for 1,700 critical assets, including chemical facilities, nuclear power plants, railroads, and national monuments. DHS hopes to have these so-called buffer zone protection plans in place by Sept. 30. Unlike after-the-fact emergency response plans, these security response plans will outline steps to be taken to detect, deter, and defend against terrorist attacks at critical assets. If proper-
2004
ly designed, these buffer zone plans will make potential targets less attractive to terrorists and give law enforcement and facilities as much warning as possible before an attack. To that end, the plans will have to improve communications and intelligence between critical assets and what an official in DHS's Information Analysis & Infrastructure Protection Directorate calls "first preventers," or local law enforcement. The official explains a buffer zone plan as "a tool local law enforcement will use to get re-
chemicals sector. It has been working to broaden its own activities in Asia and South America. Raisio, meanwhile, recently opened latex binder and specialty chemical plants in China. And the Raisio Chemicals buy will give Ciba a particularly strong presence in the Nordic region. The company intends to create a regional hub in Finland, centered around Raisio's technology campus in Turku, which has research facilities and a pilot paper plant. "The business logic behind this deal and the price to be paid are sound," Ciba Chairman Armin Meyer says. Ciba predicts that one-time expenses to integrate the newunit will be about $75 million. Ciba's recent buying binge contrasts with the portfolio trimming being undertaken by several of its European specialty chemicals counterparts. Debt-heavy Rhodia and ICI are both selling large food ingredient businesses, and Clariant is looking for a buyer for its electronic materials unit.—PATRI CIA SHORT
sources —funding for equipment and training—from DHS" to address security shortfalls. Through its various grant programs, DHS will help 500 of the 1,700 critical assets it has identified—so-called high-value targets—initiate additional antiterror measures. Buffer zone plans are being developed in consultation with critical facilities personnel and are seen as complementing the facilities' own security plans. DHS officials met with chemical industry representatives inJanuary 'ACC thinks the buffer zone protection program is a good idea, one consistent with Responsible Care's security code," says Dorothy Kellogg, American Chemistry Council's senior director for facility safety and security Under the worst-case scenario, EPA has said that up to 1 million people could be killed if any of 123 specified chemicals facilities were attacked.-LOI S EMBER HTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
