START-UPS
▸ Evonik invests in Danish peroxide firm Evonik Industries has acquired a minority stake in HPNow, a start-up based in Copenhagen that has developed technology for on-site production of hydrogen peroxide using only water, air, and electric current. HPNow will use the money from Evonik to scale up its technology. Evonik has an annual hydrogen peroxide production capacity of almost 1 million metric tons. “We’re an ideal match for HPNow,” Evonik says.—ALEX SCOTT
POLLUTION
▸ Dow tackles ocean plastic waste Dow Chemical is participating in initiatives in Japan and Indonesia aimed at reducing plastic waste in oceans. Working with Tokyo University of Science and the Japan Plastics Industry Federation, and using special video surveillance equipment, Dow has been monitoring the amount of plastic waste flowing through Japan’s Edogawa and Ohori Rivers. The program is part of a $2.8 million pledge Dow made to help solve marine plastic waste problems. Separately, Dow is collaborating with Bandung Institute of Technology and Indonesian industry associations to develop roads made with recycled plastic. One trial last year made a 1.8-km road with 3.5 metric tons of plastic waste mixed into the asphalt. —ALEX TULLO
INVESTMENT
AkzoNobel to create Dutch innovation park AkzoNobel is going ahead with plans to convert its R&D and hydrogen peroxide production site in Deventer, the Netherlands, into an innovation park for developers of high-energy chemistry. The move follows the signing of a seven-year agreement by the government of Deventer and the province of Overijssel (of which Deventer is a part) to invest more than $30 million to transform the site. The complex already has space for a small number of technology firms. By the end of 2025, AkzoNobel plans to be able to accommodate 300 people from technology companies, 50 staffers involved in training and education, and 315 of its own research staff. About 270 of AkzoNobel’s R&D employees currently work at the site, which boasts safety labs, analytical labs, and pilot facilities for scaling up production. AkzoNobel anticipates that knowledge exchange with the site’s future tenants will help it accelerate introduction of its own technologies. Two technology start-ups have already moved to the park. One, Exxfire, focuses on products for fire prevention. The other, Ahrma Holding, develops sensor-equipped shipping pallets.—ALEX SCOTT
BIOBASED CHEMICALS
INSTRUMENTATION
▸ Clariant, Global Bioenergies sign pact for biobased isobutene
▸ Thermo Fisher buys Phenom-World
Swiss specialty chemical firm Clariant and French industrial biotech company Global Bioenergies have developed a biobased
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
C R E D I T: GLO BA L BI O EN E RG I ES
▸ Frutarom makes it a dozen The acquisitive Israeli flavors and fragrances maker Frutarom Industries rounded out 2017 with the purchase of Brazil’s Bremil Indústria and Poland’s Fabryka Substancji Zapachowych Pollena-Aroma, its 11th and 12th acquisitions of the year. Frutarom paid $31 million for a 51% interest in the Brazilian firm, a maker of savory flavors that has annual sales of about $47 million. It paid nearly $9 million for the Polish company, a maker of ingredients for aromatherapy and cosmetics with annual sales of $5 million.—MARC REISCH
Thermo Fisher Scientific has acquired Phenom-World, a small Dutch maker of desktop scanning electron microscopes (SEMs). Financial details were not disclosed. Thermo Fisher says the deal expands its line of entry-level and desktop SEMs for materials science, industrial, life sciences, and electronics customers. Thermo Fisher became a significant force in electron microscopy in 2016 when it bought Oregon-based FEI for $4.2 billion.—MARC REISCH
PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMICALS
▸ Navin expands fluorine chemistry site This plant in Leuna, Germany, is producing biobased isobutene for cosmetics applications.
polymer used to modify rheology in cosmetic creams and lotions. The polymer is made from sugar-derived isobutene, and more than half its carbon is from renewable sources. The two companies say they are working to scale up production at Global Bioenergies’ demonstration plant in Leuna, Germany.—MELODY BOMGARDNER
Navin Fluorine will spend $18 million to expand operations at its site in Dewas, India. The investment will support the manufacture of complex chemicals and fluorinated intermediates used in the pharmaceutical industry in India and abroad, the company says. Navin says it is proceeding with the investment in anticipation of orders for intermediates from customers developing new drugs.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS
TREMBLAY JANUARY 8, 2018 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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