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Korean firm buys Verdant

Korea’s Samyang Holdings has acquired Verdant Specialty Solutions from private equity firm OpenGate Capital for about $250 million. Texas-based Verdant mainly makes amphoteric surfactants for personal care products, plus non-ionic surfactants for industrial applications. It has revenues of about $210 million/year, and employs some 300 in the US, the UK and Germany.

Novonesis is the name

Danish enzymes and ingredients firms Novozymes and Chr. Hansen have announced that their post-merger name will be Novonesis. This is derived from the Latin word for ‘new’ that is already in Novozymes’ name and the Green for ‘origin’ or ‘beginning’, to acknowledge the role Ancient Greek thinkers played in the development of science.

EPA prioritises five chemicals

Following a public consultation, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is beginning a 12-month process to prioritise five additional toxic chemicals for risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Should they be designated as high priority substances, as expected, risk evaluations will then begin.

Corbion under shareholder pressure

Amsterdam-based Corbion, which specialises in lactic acid and derivatives, food preservation, functional blends and algae ingredients, has become the latest speciality chemical company to come under pressure from an ‘activist shareholder’ to change its strategy.

Check finds hazardous chemicals in many consumer products

Checks on various consumer products in 26 European Economic Area (EEA) countries found that 18% of them contained excessive levels of hazardous chemicals, ECHA has revealed. This was carried out in late 2022 as an EU-wide enforcement project related to the ECHA Enforcement Forum.

Syensqo completes spin-off

Syensqo had its shares listed on Euronext Brussels and Euronext Paris on 11 December three days after shareholders voted 99.53% in favour of its demerger from Solvay. It also expects to be included in other major stock market indices, such as BEL20, Stoxx Europe 600, MSCI Europe ad FTSE Russell, subject to each individual index review.

The new company employs over 13,000 employees and is spread across the world, with 41% of 2022 net sales in the Americas, 36% in Asia-Pacific and 23% Europe. The initial share price of €90 gives it a market capitalisation of € 9.53 billion.

Brenntag amends its structure

Brenntag has detailed a planned “strategic transformation and growth path”, including updated mid-term targets, at a Capital Markets Day in London. Among other things this will see “the further operational and legal disentanglement” of Brenntag Essentials and Brenntag Specialties, though not the full separation some shareholders had been demanding.

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