northeast of Lyon. The companybecame part of the British Vita groupin 1995. Silvergate Plastics (anothermasterbatch producer, based inWrexham, North Wales) became partof the British Vita group in 1997. Untilthe management buy-out at Silvergatein 2008, the two companies enjoyed ameasure of technical cooperation.Elian now has about 100 employeesand reported sales revenue at €23 Min 2008. It plans to raise its profile inexport markets, especially within theEU and francophone countries,aiming to increase its export/salesratio to 10-20% by 2012.

Plastiques et Caoutchoucs Magazine, Oct 2009, (870),25 (in French)

Kiri to buy DyStar assets with blessingof insolvency administrators

On 10 December 2009, it wasannounced that Kiri Dyes & ChemicalsLtd (of Ahmedabad, India) had agreedto buy major elements of the DyStargroup (headquartered in Frankfurt,Germany), including four plants inGermany and 36 international DyStarsubsidiaries. The value of thetransaction was not officiallydisclosed, but estimates published inthe Indian business press were in therange of €105-130 M.

The acquisition is effectively areverse takeover: Kiri (with annualsales revenue of around €40 M) is amuch smaller company than DyStar(with annual sales revenue of around€800 M).

DyStar, one of the world’s leadingproducers of dyes and textilechemicals, was once owned 35% byBayer, 35% by Aventis (formerlyHoechst) and 30% by BASF. Its entireshare capital was sold to PlatinumEquity LLC (of Los Angeles) in August2004. Faced with mounting lossesand a cashflow crisis, DyStar declaredinsolvency on 28 September 2009and the Frankfurt Insolvency Courtappointed two attorneys – Dr StephanLaubereau and Dr Miguel Grosser –for supervising the company’s plansfor managing the business, includingpossible asset sales, plant closures,etc. (See ‘Focus on Pigments’, Dec2009, 7).

Following an intensive search forinvestors, three potential buyers wereshortlisted for the final stage of

negotiations and Kiri’s proposals weredeemed to be the most suitable. Thisentails taking over four out of the fiveDyStar sites in Germany – atFrankfurt, Leverkusen, Ludwigshafenand Brunsbüttel, along with 36international subsidiaries. Dr Grosserand Dr Laubereau said: “The conceptpresented by Kiri may make it possibleto preserve the DyStar group as agoing concern.” Under Kiri’s proposal,800 out of the 1300 DyStar workers inGermany would be transferred to Kiri;also 1200 out of the 2400 DyStarworkers outside Germany would betransferred to Kiri. DyStar’s operationsat Geretsried (Bavaria) were excludedfrom the Kiri deal.

A committee of DyStar’s creditorshas already approved the Kiriacquisition. Subject to approval by theanti-trust authorities and subject toKiri finalising finance for theacquisition, the purchase agreementshould be formally implemented inJanuary 2010. This would set thestage for resuming production at theBrunsbüttel and Leverkusen sites.Indigo production at Ludwigshafen willcarry on without interruption.

Press Release from: DyStar, Frankfurt am Main, KG65926, Germany, website: http://www.dystar.com (10Dec 2009) & Handelsblatt Wirtschafts- undFinanzzeitung, 11 Dec 2009, (240), 22 (in German) &Business Standard, 2 Dec 2009, 12 (131), I.2

Koppers buys Cindu Chemicals

Koppers Holdings Inc (of Pittsburgh,PA) has signed a letter of intent toacquire the entire business and assetsof Cindu Chemicals. Cindu Chemicalshas a 140,000 tonnes/y tar distillationplant at Uithoorn (Netherlands) and isa significant supplier of carbon blackfeedstock. Koppers already has800,000 tonnes/y of tar distillationcapacity in the US and 225,000tonnes/y in Europe.

Chemical Week, 14 Dec 2009, (Website:http://www.chemweek.com)

Nippon Kayaku opens Shanghai sales HQ

Nippon Kayaku established a newregional sales headquarters inShanghai, effective 1 January 2010,representing another step in thecompany’s strategy to shift its textilecolorants and fluorescent paper dyesbusiness from Japan to China. (See

also ‘Focus on Pigments’, Jun 2008,4). The Shanghai centre will have aworkforce of 30 people. Its salestarget for fiscal year to end-March2013 has been set at Yen 6.2 bn(equivalent to around $66 M).

Japan Chemical Web, 3 Dec 2009, (Website:http://www.japanchemicalweb.jp)

Rockwood & Grace renew salesalliance for certain concrete colorants

Rockwood Color Pigments & Services Division and WR GraceConstruction Products have extendedtheir alliance to jointly distributeRockwood’s Chameleon liquid colourdosing system and concrete colourproducts in North America. Theseproducts are mainly based on ironoxide pigments. Grace has distributedRockwood’s products and systemsexclusively to the ready-mix and pre-cast concrete products sector sinceJuly 2003. The alliance does notinclude the masonry, paver, roof tile,coatings, plastics and specialityindustries, which continue to beserviced solely by Rockwood.

Press Release from: Rockwood Holdings Inc, 100Overlook Center, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA, website:http://www.rockwoodspecialties.com (1 Nov 2009)

Sumitomo Osaka Cement invests inKobo to promote ZnO in cosmetics

Kobo Products Inc is a leading globalsupplier of cosmetic ingredients, withheadquarters in South Plainfield, NJ(in the US). It is a private company,with 40 employees and annual salesrevenue estimated at $7.5 M.Sumitomo Osaka Cement (of Tokyo)recently made a significant investmentin Kobo Products, valued at $3 M,with legal assistance from BlankRome LLP. The rationale for theinvestment was mainly to accelerateSumitomo Osaka’s sales ofnanoparticulate zinc oxide to theNorth American cosmetics sector. Thecompany believes that inorganic zincoxide is rapidly displacing organicchemicals such as avobenzone,benzophenones, cinnamates andsalicylates as an ultraviolet absorberin sunscreens and other cosmeticproducts.

Japan Chemical Web, 25 Dec 2009, (Website:http://www.japanchemicalweb.jp)

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