Finnish paper giant UPM has officially begun construction of its Biochemicals’s division’s €550 million facility at Leuna, Germany. The plant is expected to start production by the end of 2022. At the World BioEconomy Forum in September, the investment won the award for Bio Act of the Year.

“The biorefinery in Leuna will be the nucleus for an entirely new and high-value growth business and opens totally new markets for UPM with large growth potential for the future,” said Jyrki Ovaska, EVP of Technology at UPM.

PQ Group Holdings has agreed to sell its Performance Materials business, known as Potters Industries and a major producer of engineered glass materials, for $650 million to mid-market private equity firm Jordan Company. The deal should close by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

ReSolute, which is described as a “flagship EU project focused on creating a new, sustainably-sourced, safer alternative to traditional, fossil-based solvents”, officially launched on 15 October. Engineering work on its planned 1,000 tonnes/year levoglucosenone (LGO) plant somewhere in Eastern Europe begins in November, with commissioning expected at the end of 2022.

ReSolute, which is described as a “flagship EU project focused on creating a new, sustainably-sourced, safer alternative to traditional, fossil-based solvents”, officially launched on 15 October. Engineering work on its planned 1,000 tonnes/year levoglucosenone (LGO) plant somewhere in Eastern Europe begins in November, with commissioning expected at the end of 2022.

Plant-based ingredients firm Roquette has announced that its first expertise centre in the field of cosmetics will start operating in November. The company said that this is “an important milestone in Roquette Beauté’s development strategy and willingness to be recognised as the B2B expert in plant-based ingredients for cosmetics for the years to come”.

US private equity giant Ardian has acquired a 50% stake in Angus Chemical from Golden Gate Capital at a total enterprise value of about $2.25 billion. Golden Gate, which bought the firm from Dow Chemical in February 2015, will retain the other. The deal should close at the end of the year.

Siegfried has agreed to buy two drug product sites near Barcelona, Spain, from Novartis, in a deal expected to close by the end of 2020. Terms were not disclosed but Siegfried said that its sales should surpass CHF 1 billion in 2021, with the drug product operations “achieving the targeted critical size”.