Chemours is to invest $200 million to increase capacity and advance technology for its Nafion brand ion exchange materials at the site in Villers-Saint-Paul, France. The investment is subject to obtaining the necessary permits and licences for construction and operations. It includes ionomers and associated membranes.
Chemours has announced a planned $200 million investment to increase capacity and advance technology for its industry-leading Nafion ion exchange materials. The company is now evaluating potential locations in the US and Europe for the investment, in accordance with applicable regulatory frameworks.
Clariant, Solvay, Chemours and Novozymes have all announced plans to suspend business with Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. They have all also pledged support for employees in the affected countries and made donations to support relief operations.
Clariant suspended operations with immediate effect. CEO Conrad Keijzer said: “Continuing to do business under these circumstances is incompatible with our purpose and values”. The company has a sales office and a laboratory in Moscow, which contribute about 2% of its sales. It also employs 146 people in Ukraine.
Oaktree Capital Management is to invest $150 million in Czech firm Draslovka, “providing preferred equity capital to support the company’s growth strategy”. This follows multiple recent acquisitions by Draslovksa, a family-owned specialist in CN-based chemicals, including next generation fumigants and biocides.
Draslovka, a specialist in cyanide chemistry based in the Czech Republic, has completed the previously announced acquisition of Chemours’s Mining Solutions business for $521 million. However, its proposed acquisition of Sasol’s sodium cyanide business has been blocked by the South African competition authorities.
Draslovka, a multi-family-owned Czech speciality chemicals firm, has agreed to acquire the Mining Solutions business of Chemours for $520 million, or 10 x EBITDA in 2020. This came shortly after its agreement to buy Sasol’s sodium cyanide business $101.7 million. CEO Pavel Bruzek said that the deals were “highly synergistic” with each other.
DuPont and the companies that used to be part of it, Chemours and Corteva, have reached a settlement with the Delaware Department of Justice. Under this, they are held responsible for decades of damage done to Delaware’s environment by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs).
The agreement has avoided a potential lawsuit for historic contamination by PFASs in Delaware, which remains DuPont’s headquarters. This had impacted waterways and groundwater located in each of the state’s three counties.
