DuPont closes acquisition of Dyadic

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DuPont DD recently declared that its Industrial Biosciences business has acquired all of the assets of Industrial Technology business from Dyadic International, Inc., said Finance.

DYAI for USD75 million in cash. DuPont came into the spotlight recently for its historic merger with Dow Chemical DOW to create a chemical powerhouse dubbed "DowDuPont", with a combined market value of around USD130 billion, before eventually breaking up into three independent companies. Apart from being the largest deal ever in the chemical space, it ranks among the biggest mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals announced in 2015.

DuPont also recently declared that it will slash roughly 1,700 jobs in its home state, Delaware, in early 2016 as it progresses with its planned mega-merger with Dow Chemical. This significant move is part of DuPont’s plans to cut 10% of its global workforce of around 63,000 as part of the 2016 cost savings and restructuring program.

The 2016 restructuring program, which builds on the company's previous operational redesign initiative, is expected to deliver cost reduction of USD700 million. DuPont expects to incur a pre-tax charge of around USD780 million (including around USD650 million of employee separation costs) related to these actions.

DuPont is an American chemical company that was founded in July, 1802. The company manufactures a wide range of chemical products, leading extensive innovative research in this field. The company is the inventor of many unique plastics and other materials, including neoprene, nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, Mylar, Tyvek, etc. DuPont was the developer and main producer of Freon used in the production of refrigeration equipment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The banking sanctions on Iranian petrochemical export have been lifted after receipt of money for the product exports from a Spanish bank, as per Chemicals-technology.

The Iranian Petrochemical Commercial Company (IPCC) account with a Spanish bank has been activated for first time with a European bank in the past five years.

IPCC said that an earlier contract between IPCC and the association of Spanish manufacturers was signed through an "escrow account agreement" that officially leads the way for the banking transactions for its export activities, reports Press TV. Executive director of IPCC Mehdi Sharifi Niknafs was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying: "accordingly, the commercial contract between IPCC and the association of Spanish manufacturers was finalised."

Niknafs further added: "On the basis of the reached agreements and receiving of official approvals the government and central bank of Spain, the limitations of receiving of money as well as export of products from various world countries were practically removed." IPCC will now go ahead with the sale of petrochemical products, after the removal of restrictions on the sale after the preliminary agreement between the country and six world powers in Geneva.

A meeting was held recently between the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Valiollah Seif and top bankers, who discussed the actions that needed to be taken in preparation for the lifting of the sanctions, as well as the course of action to be taken post-sanctions.

No official date has been declared for the lifting of sanctions. Iranian banks have been kept out of the global monetary system. Following the removal of the ban, banks will be able to transfer unlimited money in and out of Iran. The lifting of the sanctions also include several other benefits, and the move is expected to reconnect Iran with the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) financial-transactions system.

The last Iranian fiscal year, that ended on 20 March 2015, has reportedly recorded petrochemical production of 44.4t, which is 10% higher year-on-year. Iran's actual production capacity is approximately 60t, but the lack of natural gas as feedstock, coupled with other issues such as old production facilities, have effected exports, as well as production capacity.

The petrochemical plants in Iran require 37 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, last year the country could provide only 2.8t of ethane. This year, Iran is planning to increase this volume to 4.2t.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabian petrochemical producer and refiner Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) has announced that the completion of its Phase II expansion project will be delayed by nine months, as per Chemicals-technology.

The delay will increase the project cost and compel the company to seek more cash from shareholders. The expansion was started in 2009 and the completion of the project got delayed mainly due to cost factor.

"The company's existing plant produces 18 million tonnes of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemical products." Currently, the company expects to complete the expansion by September this year.

With the expansion, Petro Rabigh, a joint-venture between Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical, aims to produce higher margin petrochemical products. Now, the total cost of the project stands at SAR31bn (USD8.3bn), which is SAR1bn (USD266m) more than the earlier estimation. According to a report of Reuters, Petro Rabigh attributed the delay to 'the failure of the key contractors of the project to meet the planned implementation schedule."

The delay in the project indicates that its plan to raise funding capital through rights issues will need to increase to SAR9.26bn, which is SAR2.24bn more than it initially planned in April, in order to support the increased funding costs.

To fund the project, Petro Rabigh has taken loans worth SAR19.4bn (USD5.2bn), with most of the money coming from Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and the state-owned Public Investment Fund. An existing ethane cracker unit will be expanded and a new aromatics facility will be established under the Phase II expansion.

The company's existing plant produces 18 million tonnes of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemical products, and the new aromatics facility will be able to process more than 2.7 million tonnes of naphtha per year in order to manufacture petrochemical products of higher value.

The expansion of the ethane cracker facility is now expected to be completed by the first quarter of this year. Petro Rabigh plans to gradually operate the expanded units from the beginning of the second half of this year.

As MRC informed earlier, Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Co. (Petro Rabigh) has received ownership of the Rabigh Phase II project from Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical, major shareholders in Petro Rabigh, and will now integrate the project into Petro Rabigh's existing refining and petrochemical complex in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia.

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical, has an annual output capacity of 18 million tonnes of refined products and 2.4 million tonnes of petrochemicals. Thus, the complex currently has a cracker to produce 1.3-million t/y of ethylene and 900,000 t/y of propylene, as well as downstream production of polyethylene, polypropylene, propylene oxide, ethylene glycol and butene-1.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Praxair Distribution, Inc. (PDI), a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc., announced its two joint venture companies operating in the southeastern U.S. have merged. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, said the company on its site.

The transaction involves merging Praxair Distribution Southeast, LLC (PDSE), a PDI joint venture operating in Florida and southeast Georgia since 1997, into Memphis, Tennessee- based nexAir, LLC (nexAir), a 75-year old company which entered into a joint venture with PDI in 2012, with locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. nexAir will grow to have annual sales of more than USD200 million and 67 locations with the merger, adding coverage throughout the state of Florida. Its existing senior management team will continue to lead the combined business.

"Both the PDSE and nexAir businesses have been very successful partnerships for PDI in the southeast and it makes sense to now combine them. It will allow us to streamline and simplify our management processes and improve customer focus and clarity around PDI’s channel strategy. Together we will provide a stronger network of services and capabilities throughout the region," said Scott Kaltrider, president Praxair Distribution, Inc.

As MRC informed earlier, Praxair started up its new air separation plant at the Liaoning Oxiranchem (Oxiran) facility in Yangzhou Chemical Industrial Park in China's Jiangsu Province.

Praxair, Inc., a Fortune 250 company with 2014 sales of USD12.3 billion, is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America and one of the largest worldwide. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies are making our planet more productive by bringing efficiency and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, primary metals and many others.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Adhesives & Sealants LLC ("Royal") announced today that it has acquired the stock of Adhesive Systems Inc. ("ASI"), as per the company's press release.

Based in Frankfort, IL, ASI develops, manufactures, and markets cyanoacrylate, methyl methacrylate, epoxy and anaerobic adhesives and sells to the assembly adhesives market through a large network of global distributors.

"We are excited to acquire ASI and partner with the company's founders Ed Koziol and Gary Johnson, both of whom are long-time adhesive industry entrepreneurs and have built a leading assembly adhesives business. ASI will continue to operate under Ed and Gary's leadership as part of Royal. We look forward to supporting the ASI team in their next stage of growth as they continue to provide the high level of service and quality their customers have come to expect," said Ted Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Royal.

Ed Koziol, President of ASI said, "In selecting a partner, Royal was clearly the best positioned to help us accelerate our growth strategy through the addition of other adhesive technologies to our product line and through supporting our geographic expansion plans."

ASI Vice President Gary Johnson stated, "We are very pleased to partner with Royal, which has significant global capability and experience in the adhesives and sealants industry. Royal has been aggressively growing their business and will help us to develop and grow our unique and innovative assembly adhesive business model."

Adhesive Systems (ASI) was founded 25 years ago by Ed Koziol and Gary Johnson and is a proven innovator and leader in the development and manufacture of engineered adhesives and application solutions for the assembly adhesives market. ASI focuses on providing adhesives to strict quality standards and on fulfilling the technical, application process and business requirements of its customers. ASI sells its products globally and manufactures a comprehensive product line of engineered adhesives. ASI's cyanoacrylate, methyl methacrylate, epoxy, anaerobic and other adhesive products have an array of assembly applications in the automotive assembly, aerospace/aviation, medical equipment, military, electronics, general industrial, appliances, plastics molding, furniture manufacturing, and filtration markets among others.

Royal Adhesives & Sealants is a global developer and manufacturer of proprietary, high-performance adhesives and sealants. Headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, Royal offers a broad range of specialty formulated products designed to solve complex bonding, laminating and sealing applications across a diverse range of markets including aerospace and defense, construction, specialty packaging, automotive and industrial. The company offers a broad spectrum of customized thermosetting epoxy and urethane, solvent-based and water-based technologies to meet the most demanding adhesive and sealant applications.
MRC