Honeywell has announced plans to spin off its Advanced Materials business to its shareholders as an independent, publicly traded company by early 2026. This will enable it become a pure-play speciality chemicals and materials producer, with strong positions in fluorine products, electronic materials, industrial grade fibres and healthcare packaging.
India’s Sudarshan Chemical Industries (SCIL) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Heubach Group in a move that it said would “create a global pigment company, combining SCIL’s operations and expertise with Heubach’s technological capabilities”. Terms were not disclosed.
Mining giant Rio Tinto has agreed to acquire Arcadium Lithium, the company created by the merger of Livent and Allkem in January, for $5.85/share, which represents a 90% premium to Arcadium’s share price before the deal was announced. The offer values the firm at about $6.7 billion. Both boards have recommended it to shareholders.
French CDMO EuroAPI announces today that it has completed and secured the financing of its ongoing Focus-27 strategic plan. The agreements comprise:
* An agreement with EuroAPI’s banking syndicate on a new secured €451 million revolving credit facility, refinancing the existing revolving facility to mature in February 2029
* An investment by Sanofi of €200 million in a perpetual deeply subordinated hybrid bond, which EuroAPI said that will give it “additional financial flexibility” to deliver Focus-27
Belgian start-up AmphiStar has launched what it claims are the first fully upcycled biobased surfactants under the trade names AmphiCare and AmphiClean. These are produced “using clean biological conversion processes and derived from local, organic biowaste and side streams from agri-food processing”.
French fermentation and microorganisms giant Lesaffre has acquired its compatriot Altar from Ginkgo Bioworks. The company said that Altar, a 2017 start-up specialising in adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE), will complement its existing know-how and technologies, and boost its innovation capabilities. Ginkgo will retain access to Altar’s technology.
Oleochemicals producer Oleon has acquired a majority stake in A. Azevedo Óleos, a Brazilian oleochemical company specialised in castor oil and its derivatives. The company said that this strengthens its position in the rapidly growing South American market. Terms were not disclosed.
