Akzo Nobel's Decorative Coatings business has initiated the latest phase of its competitive European expansion strategy by signing an agreement to acquire Swiss Lack, Switzerland's leading paint company.

Clariant's Pigments & Additives Division, Sulzbach, Ts., Germany, and Hangzhou Baihe Chemicals Co. Ltd., Zhejiang Province, China, announced that a joint-venture agreement has been signed for the production of high-performance organic pigments in China.

The European Coatings Show (ECS) 2005, held in April in Nürnberg, Germany, has grown substantially in comparison with the previous show in 2003, breaking all previous records.

Eliokem is expanding its capacity of Pliolite® S5 styrene butadiene resins in both its Le Havre, France, and Akron, Ohio, plants.

Intelchem Industries Sdn Bhd (IISB) has completed successful certification of the Environmental Management System ISO14001:1996 and Safety & Health Management System OHSAS 18001:1999 by DNV Certification B.V. The Netherlands.

Crompton Corp. and Great Lakes Chemical Corp. have entered into a definitive merger agreement for an all-stock merger transaction, which will create the third-largest publicly traded U.S. specialty chemicals company.

BASF Corp. has signed a contract with NOF Corp. for BASF to fully acquire the shares in BASF NOF Coatings Company Ltd.

Intertech is offering the proceedings from the Ninth International Titanium Dioxide Forum and Business Development Conference, which was held March 2-4 at the Noga Hilton Cannes Hotel in Cannes, France.

Graco Inc. has purchased from affiliates of PMC Global, Inc., Sun Valley, Calif., the stock of Gusmer Corp., based in Lakewood, N.J. In a related transaction, Graco also acquired the stock of Gusmer Europe S.L., based in Vilanova, Spain.

Holliday Pigments, the world's largest manufacturer of ultramarine blue pigments, has reached a significant milestone and is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year.