JAN / FEB 2022
Croda sells most of PTIC
Croda has agreed to sell most of its Performance Technologies & Industrial Chemicals ( PTIC ) business to a subsidiary of Cargill in a € 915 million deal . This should close in the summer , subject to regulatory approvals and employee consultation . The company had stated its intention to reviewing ownership options for PTIC in May 2021 . Cargill said that this would “ dramatically expand ” its bioindustrial footprint . “ Aligning with Cargill ’ s commitment to sustainability , more than twothirds of the raw materials used to manufacture these solutions are bio-based and renewable ,” the company added . The acquisition will bring Cargill nearly 1,000 employees and five production facilities at Gouda , Netherlands , Hull , UK and the Croda Sipo JV in China , in which Croda has a 65 % stake . If the full sale of the JV cannot be realised , Croda added , Sipo will be excluded and the value of the sale will fall by € 140 million .
The products of these sites mainly go into the circular plastic economy , electric vehicles and other renewable technologies . The transaction also brings laboratory facilities supporting activities in smart materials , energy technologies , and industrial chemicals . Together , the divested activities accounted for 77 % of PTIC ’ s revenues of £ 470 million in 2020 . Croda is retaining the other parts that provide “ integral support ” in the consumer care and life sciences sectors . They will henceforth be known as the Industrial Specialties sector . Mutual supply agreements have also been made for certain ingredients . Croda intends to reinvest the proceeds into faster growth areas , increasing its exposure to health care and developing its position as a sustainability leader in consumer care and crop care . CEO Steve Foots said that the sale “ completes our transition into a pure-play consumer and life sciences company ”, with these accounting for “ well over 90 %” of its 2020 adjusted operating profits of £ 48.6 million .
Chinese owner for ex-Aesica site
Pharmaron Beijing has acquired the Aesica Pharmaceuticals site at Cramlington , UK , from Swedish based CDMO Recipharm . It will integrate this with its existing process development and early-stage cGMP API manufacturing at Hoddesdon to offer an end-to-end chemistry and manufacturing service . The site offers cGMP manufacturing services for APIs from pilot to tonne scale , with over 100 m 3 of commercial capacity . Dr Boliang Lou , chairman and CEO of Pharmaron , said that the firm is “ committed to expanding the Cramlington site to meet growing demand ”. Meanwhile , Recipharm CEO Mark Funk said that divesting it “ helps us to streamline our operations in line with our strategic goals and better align with our customers ’ evolving needs ”. Citing similar reasons , the company has also just sold its solid dose manufacturing site at Fontaine-lès-Dijon , France , to Astrea Pharma , a newly established CDMO that focuses on solid forms of all kinds .
IN BRIEF
Elessent emerges
A private equity consortium led by BroadPeak Global has acquired DuPont ’ s Clean Technologies business and relaunched it as Elessent Clean Technologies , led by Eli Ben- Shoshan . Elsessent will have full rights to the MECS sulfuric acid and environmental technologies , Belco in scrubbing , Stratco in alkylation and IsoTherming in hydroprocessing .
Leverton , Helm join forces
UK lithium chemicals producer Leverton has formed an alliance with the German distributor Helm to scale up manufacturing capacity for battery grade lithium chemicals in Europe under the name LevertonHelm . As a first step , Leverton ’ s current manufacturing facilities will be combined at a new site in Basingstoke , allowing for expansion to 20,000 tonnes / year .
Lanxess targets women
Lanxess aims to increase the proportion of women in management positions worldwide from 23 % at the end of 2020 to 30 % by 2030 and to recruit at least 30 % women . To this end , it is recruiting with events tailored specifically to women and designing development and training opportunities to attract them . By the end of 2022 , flexible working in time and place is to be available in 95 % of the countries it operates in .
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