Albemarle and Rockwood merge specialty chemicals

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Albemarle has completed its acquisition of Rockwood Holdings, pursuant to the terms of their previously-announced merger agreement in July 2014, as per Albemarle's press release.

"Today is a great day for Albemarle as we welcome our new employees and join forces to create a premier specialty chemicals company," said Luke Kissam, Albemarle's president and CEO.

"Our combined world-class team, expanded customer reach and increased diversity across end markets, technologies and geographies positions Albemarle to drive long-term growth and produce great results for our employees, customers, shareholders and the communities in which we operate," he added. "We look forward to the future."

Under the terms of the agreement, Rockwood has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Albemarle and each previously outstanding share of Rockwood common stock (other than shares with respect to which appraisal rights were exercised and not withdrawn) has been converted into the right to receive USD50.65 in cash, without interest, and 0.4803 of a newly issued share of Albemarle common stock.

As MRC wrote before, on 13 November 2014, Albemarle received regulatory clearance for the transaction from the European Commission amd in mid-November 2014, Albemarle Corp. and Rockwood Holdings announced that shareholders from both companies had approved the proposals relating to Albemarle's acquisition of Rockwood at their respective special meetings.

Earlier, in July 2014, Albemarle Corp. agreed to pay USD6.2 billion in cash and stock for Princeton, New Jersey-based Rockwood Holdings, the largest lithium producer. Rockwood is one of four companies that control about 90% of the market for lithium. Demand for the metal will expand as much as three times faster than the overall economy, Baton Rogue, Louisiana-based Albemarle said in an investor presentation. Other lithium producers are just as bullish. The world market may double in a decade with demand growing at 7% to 10% annually, Chile’s Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile said in April.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- LG Chem is in plans to shut its styrene-butadiene-rubber (SBR) plant for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant is likely to be shut in March 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around 15 days.

Located at Daesan in South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 140,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, LG Chem is planning to build an ethylene production plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan. The project is going to be constructed in collaboration with two other Kazakh firms. The production is expected to begin in late 2016.

LG Chem Ltd., often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. According to ICIS report, it is 15th biggest chemical company in the world in 2011. It has eight domestic factories and global network of 29 business locations in 15 countries. LG Chem is a manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of petrochemical goods, IT&E Materials and Energy Solutions.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi played down any immediate prospect of a further sell-down in the national stake in oil major Eni amid low oil prices, said Upstreamonline.

Earlier this year Italy announced plans to sell a 5% stake in electricity utility Enel and a roughly 4% stake in Eni as part of a privatisation drive aiming at cutting public debt.

Neither went ahead amid market volatility and Eni’s shares have dropped in recent months amid the sharp falls in global oil prices.

Renzi told reporters that Italy would not divest its shares in Eni if market conditions were unfavourable.

"It's not a privatisation but a giveaway if state assets are sold when the market is not favourable," Renzi said, according to Reuters reports.

"Personally I believe that a further privatisation of Eni must be decided in light of market conditions," he added.

As MRC wrote before, Italian Eni said it had put on hold an assessment of its options regarding its stake in oil field services company Saipem because of difficult market conditions. In July Eni laid out plans to sell assets, including its multi-billion dollar stake Saipem to help fund its transformation into a leaner oil and gas outfit. In a statement Eni confirmed it considered its stake in Saipem as non strategic.

Eni is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. It has operations in in 79 countries, and is currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 68 billion euros (USD 90 billion), as of August 14, 2013. The Italian government owns a 30.3% golden share in the company, 3.93% held through the state Treasury and 26.37% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti. Another 39.40% of the shares are held by BNP Paribas.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, signed an agreement to acquire the remaining 50% shares of Companhia Brasileira de Bentonita (CBB) from Geosol, a world leader in analytical services for mineral exploration, said the producer in its press release.

The transaction is subject to certain conditions precedent, as well as regulatory approvals. The agreement enables Clariant to take full ownership of a Bentonit mine and a state-of-the-art production facility, employing 101 employees and located in Vitoria da Conquista in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Financial details of the acquisition are not being disclosed.

CBB has a strong market position for products for Iron Ore Pelletizing (IOP), foundry, oil & mining drilling and civil engineering in Latin America. The transaction provides Clariant’s Business Unit Functional Minerals (BU FM) with a modern plant and it secures strategic raw clay reserves for its growing bleaching earth operations in Jacarei, Brazil. Clariant's joint control of CBB has enabled Functional Minerals to enter the attractive South American markets for foundry and IOP and to introduce high quality products and solutions to customers.

"The acquisition is in line with our strategy to capture profitable growth opportunities in emerging markets", said Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant. "CBB offers excellent access to markets with great potential for our existing business and for future innovations, e.g. in agriculture or feed additives."

Sven Schultheis, Head of BU FM, said: "The investment reflects Clariant’s commitment to the growing bentonite business in Latin America. It strengthens our global position and gives us the opportunity to fully implement the technology and application know-how proven and applied around the world."

As MRC wrote before, CB&I and Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, announced that their new Ziegler-Natta (ZN) polypropylene catalyst plant in Louisville, Kentucky, is on schedule to begin production in 2015. The plant is part of a long-term strategic partnership between Clariant’s catalysts business and CB&I’s Lummus Novolen Technology business.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- A German multinational company, BASF Lanka Pvt. Ltd., supported by supplying Ecovio raw material, will produce certified compostable plastic bags which completely degrade within 5 weeks, reported GV.

The trials were successfully completed at "Mihisaru", Nagoda - Kalutara, composting plant.

Dr. Jurgen Morhard, Ambassador of the German Embassy in Sri Lanka, and his team personally viewed the degradation status of the biodegradable bags at "Mihisaru" composting plant.

It was observed, that the environmental friendly biodegradable bags degraded in controlled conditions with other compostable materials.

The raw material imported from BASF - Germany is ideal to produce flexible packaging, garbage bags, shopping bags, etc.

As MRC wrote before, in October 2014, BASF, the German chemicals giant, and Archroma agreed on the sale of BASF’s global textile chemicals business to Archroma, a supplier of specialty chemicals to the textile, paper and emulsions industries.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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