Mitsui Chemicals has announced that its Y1,830/share tender offer for the common stock of its Japanese compatriot, Honshu Chemical Industry, was completed on 11 June. The company had originally announced its intention to buy most of Honshu Chemical eight months previously.

Clariant has agreed to sell 80% of its Pigments business to a consortium made up of German pigments specialist Heubach Group and private investment firm SK Capital Partners, which owns many other chemical industry operations. This should close in 1H 2022.

According to an analysis by CEFIC of data reported through the EU’s Safety Gate, 2020 saw a steep increase in imports of hand sanitisers that were not compliant with the EU chemicals safety rules.

Speciality chemicals firm Element Solutions has made a binding €420 million offer to acquire Coventya Holding, a French-based supplier of metal-finishing speciality chemicals, from Silverfleet Capital.

The Biden administration has announced plans to tackle the US’s dependency on imports for critical medicines, with a new strategy that will seek to drive the ‘reshoring’ of some manufacturing.

According to a report on Bloomberg that cited unnamed people involved, BASF and its private equity partner, Clayton Dubilier & Rice  (CD&R), are considering an exit from water treatment specialist Solenis and have been in talks with several special purpose acquisition companies.

Agribusiness giant Cargill and German chemical marketing and distribution firm Helm have formed a joint venture called Qore and will invest $300 million to build the first commercial-scale, renewable 1,4-butanediol (BDO) facility in the US.

Vertellus has signed a definitive agreement to acquire IM Chemicals, ESIM Chemicals’ intermediates and specialities division, subject to customary regulatory approvals. Terms were not disclosed.

W.R. Grace & Co., which has itself just agreed to be acquired by Standard Industries Holdings for approximately $7 billion, has announced two further transactions.