NEWS
SEP / OCT 2022
Archroma to buy Huntsman Textile Effects
SK Capital Partners operation Archroma has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Huntsman ’ s Singapore-based Textile Effects business . Closing is expected in 1H 2023 , subject to customary conditions and regulatory approval . Textile Effects had sales of $ 772 million and adjusted EBITDA of $ 94 million in the last financial year . The total enterprise value is about $ 718 million , including the assumption of about $ 125 million in net underfunded pension liabilities . It is being partially funded with preferred equity , of which Huntsman is taking up to $ 80 million , an amount SK Capital Partners will seek to syndicate prior to closing .
Japan ’ s Ube has agreed to acquire all of the shares of the CDMO and API manufacturer API Corporation ( APIC ) from its compatriot Mitsubishi Chemical . APIC offers such CDMO services for small molecule drugs as synthetic route design , pilot manufacturing , investigational medical manufacturing and commercial production based on capabilities in both organic synthesis and biotechnology . It also makes APIs and intermediates . Ube said that it will further expand this business domain to include nucleic acid drugs , the life sciences , healthcare , medical sciences and other areas . The company already has a pharmaceuticals operation comprised of a licensing arm based on drug discovery research and the CDMO business . Earlier , Ube revealed that is has been studying the feasibility of commercialising dimethyl carbonate ( DMC ) and downstream ethyl methyl carbonate ( EMC ) in the US and that it has also decided to build an additional plant for highpurity nitric acid in Japan . The company is now beginning basic design for a plant in Louisiana , which would have capacities of 50,000 and 40,000 tonnes / year for DMC and EMC respectively . A
Archroma was formed in 2013 and combines the legacy heritages of Sandoz , Hoechst , Clariant , BASF and Dohmen in textiles . It is based at Pratteln , near Basel in Switzerland . It also incorporates the business of the former Ciba , and makes dyes for cotton , wool , polyamide and polyester textiles . “ Finally , we have achieved a dream of combining the technologies , products and capabilities of the legacy pioneers of the textile industry into a modern and cohesive enterprise that is focused on delivering innovative and sustainable systems and solutions to serve the evolving needs of today ’ s textile industry ,” commented Barry
Ube moves on three fronts
Siadat , co-founder of SK Capital Partners and chairman of Archroma . Huntsman chairman , president and CEO Peter Huntsman said that the proceeds are expected “ to be deployed in-line with our current balanced capital allocation programme , which includes strategic investments and acquisitions ... and returning cash to shareholders through both our dividend and share repurchase programme ”.
final investment decision is to be made in 1H fiscal 2023 . Operations would commence in 2H fiscal 2025 . DMC and EMC are the principal component of the solvent for electrolyte in lithium-ion batteries , while DMC is also used as a developing solution in semiconductor manufacturing . They are not currently made in the US , instead being supplied by Ube from Japan and various Chinese manufacturers . DMC is produced from CO using Ube ’ s proprietary gas phase nitrite process . The new nitric acid facility at Ube ’ s site in Ube is due to start trial operations in February 2024 . It would increase capacity by 50 % at a time of steadily increasing demand for high-purity nitric acid in semiconductor cleaning and the etching process . Ube itself has supplied this to the market since 1986 . This is all part of a new strategy that was announced in April and May , when Ube transformed its management structure and announced a medium-term management plan . ‘ Ube Vision 2030 Transformation — 1st Stage ’ calls for focused investment of management resources in speciality chemicals , with pharma positioned as an important growth driver .
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