Malvern Instruments has hired Masaaki Nakata to be part of the Malvern Japan team; he is the new Regional Sales Manager Japan for Malvern’s process systems.

Amanda Mackedanz has joined Deacom Inc. as a Senior Product Consultant.

VanDeMark Chemical Inc. has opened a new business office in West Yorkshire, UK, and has appointed Patricia Hughes Head of Sales & Business Development for the office.

Nuplex Resins has announced the appointment of Gautam Haldankar as Manager, Applications and Technical Service Laboratory.

Rhodia has announced plans to acquire Feixiang Chemicals, a producer of amines and surfactants located in Zhangjiagang, China.

Archway Sales Inc. of St. Louis, MO, announced the acquisition of Ed Simal & Associates Inc., Atlanta, GA, a specialty-chemical distributor.

The Performance Coatings Group of RPM International Inc. has acquired Hummervoll Industribelegg AS, a supplier and installer of industrial flooring systems based in Bergen, Norway.

Akzo Nobel N.V. (AkzoNobel) has announced the sale of its National Starch business to Corn Products International.

Cognis Holding Luxembourg S.à r.l., controlled by Permira Funds, GS Capital Partners and SV Life Sciences, signed a sale and purchase agreement to sell 100 percent of the shares in Cognis Holding GmbH to BASF SE.

German specialty chemicals company LANXESS has completed another step in its technical improvement drive and expansion for yellow iron oxide pigments production in Jinshan, Shanghai, China.