Gatemore Capital Management has published a second open letter to John O’Higgins, chairman of the board at UK-based speciality chemicals company Elementis. This follows its first such letter on 29 April and the company’s official response.

Syensqo and Singapore start-up Allozymes have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop ‘advanced biosolutions’ for home and personal care, particularly skin care. This will combine Allozymes’ ultra-high throughput microfluidics platform for the engineering of enzymes and microbes with Syensqo’s application and market access expertise.

Gatemore Capital Management has published an open letter to John O’Higgins, chairman of the board at UK-based speciality chemicals company Elementis, stating that there is “an urgent need for change”. This echoes a letter from another ‘activist’ shareholder in late 2023.

Elementis mainly supplies the personal care sector, notably cosmetic and antiperspirant actives – it is the world market leader in the latter field. 85% of its products are of natural origin. Coatings and paper are other key markets.

Syensqo has completed the acquisition of JinYoung Bio, a speciality cosmetic ingredients supplier based in South Korea. The company said that this “marks a significant step in expanding Syensqo’s portfolio toward more natural and high-value speciality skin care solutions with both functional and active ingredients”.

Lubrizol has opened a new Global Capability Centre (GCC) in Pune, India, as “a strategic hub to accelerate its growth in the region and enable closer collaboration for its customers and employees”. It has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to renew its strategic partnership with Proya Cosmetics in China.

Clariant has completed the previously announced acquisition of Lucas Meyer Cosmetics, a German-based maker of cosmetics and personal care ingredients, from IFF. The deal is based on an enterprise value of $810 million, subject to customary net debt and working capital adjustments.

Evonik is establishing a new business segment named Botanicals & Natural Actives within the Nutrition & Care division. This brings together various legacy products and recent acquisitions to meet demand for botanical extracts and natural actives. These include:

* Argentine firm Novachem, which offers natural and sustainable active ingredients for skin and hair care applications

* Swiss sustainable botanicals pioneer Botanica

* Alkion Biopharma, a specialist in biotechnologically developed cosmetic active ingredients