Business Concentrates INORGANIC CHEMICALS
C&EN Global Enterp 2019.97:16-16. Downloaded from pubs.acs.org by UNIV AUTONOMA DE COAHUILA on 04/08/19. For personal use only.
▸ Asahi Kasei expands separators again Asahi Kasei has announced another round of expansion of capacity to make separators for lithium-ion batteries. The Japanese firm says it will spend about $270 million to increase overall capacity in Japan and North Carolina to 1.55 billion m2 of polyolefin separator film per year by 2021. The company is in the midst of a project to boost capacity to 1.10 billion m2 next year. Given growing demand for batteries used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems, the firm says it intends to raise capacity to 3 million m2 by 2025.—MICHAEL MCCOY
OUTSOURCING
▸ Drug service firm Sterling is acquired The health-care investment firm GHO Capital has acquired a majority stake in Sterling Pharma Solutions, which calls itself the UK’s largest provider of active pharmaceutical ingredient development and production services. Sterling operates a facility in Northumberland, England, that was built by Sterling Drug and has been owned by several firms over the years. Sterling managers acquired it from India’s Strides Shasun in 2016, and they continue to own a stake.—MICHAEL
MCCOY
FOOD INGREDIENTS
▸ ADM picks up another citrus firm Archer Daniels Midland has agreed to acquire Ziegler, a citrus flavor ingredient firm based in Germany. Ziegler uses cold concentration technology to produce citrus oils, extracts, and concentrates. This is the second citrus acquisition this month for ADM, following its buy of Florida Chemical. The market for citrus flavors is worth $8 billion and is growing approximately 5% per year, ADM says. Beverages are the leading application for the flavors, which also appear in candies and even savory items like potato chips.—MELODY
BOMGARDNER
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | MARCH 25, 2019
Tronox, Ineos strike deal for titanium dioxide plant Tronox and Ineos are going ahead with a deal that will send Tronox’s titanium dioxide plant in Ashtabula, Ohio, to Ineos for $700 million. The two firms said in December that they were contemplating the sale as a way to help Tronox salvage its acquisition of Cristal, a rival TiO2 producer. The US Federal Trade Commission wanted to block the purchase of Cristal on the grounds that the combined firm would have too commanding a share of the market for the chloride-process version of the white pigment. The Ashtabula plant, owned by Cristal, is a large producer of chloride-process TiO2. Tronox says FTC staffers have moved to withdraw the case and will ask the full commission to allow the deal to go ahead. Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe says the purchase will allow his firm to enter the pigment market and instantly become the second-largest TiO2 maker in North America.—MICHAEL MCCOY
BUSINESS
▸ GCP defends against would-be purchaser GCP Applied Technologies, the former W. R. Grace construction chemical business, has adopted a shareholder rights plan to defend itself against 40 North Management. The private equity firm recently bought a nearly 25% stake in GCP. Adopting the plan protects shareholders against acquirers who would gain control of GCP without paying a premium, the firm says. GCP started a strategic review, which includes possibly selling itself, in February.—MARC REISCH
ENERGY STORAGE
▸ Activated carbon enables gas storage Southern California Gas will fund a field demonstration of light-duty vehicles equipped with natural gas–compressing technology from Adsorbed Natural Gas Products and the chemical maker Ingevity. ANGP’s gas-storage cylinders contain activated carbon from Ingevity that adsorbs the gas and reduces cylinder pressure by
ANGP says its technology can be installed in vehicles with conventional engines. about 75%. Activated carbon is already used in auto evaporative emission-control chambers.—MICHAEL MCCOY
DRUG DISCOVERY
▸ Celgene taps Exscientia for AI Celgene is the latest drug company to pick the Scottish start-up Exscientia as a partner for artificial intelligence-enabled drug discovery. Exscientia will earn $25 million up front, plus undisclosed milestone payments, to develop small-molecule drug candidates for cancer and autoimmune diseases. The start-up uses AI to design compounds but requires chemists to synthesize and test them. The new deal comes just two months after Exscientia struck a
C R E D I T: T RO N OX ( P LA N T ) ; A N GP ( T RU CK )
ENERGY STORAGE
