Dutch chemicals group DSM NV, Amsterdam, will buy U.K.-based specialty chemicals company Avecia's coating resins operation for 515 million euros ($684 million) as it focuses on high-growth activities.
In recent years, there has been significant interest in using surface coatings as an alternative to steels in erosive conditions, with a view to maximizing the tribological properties of the coating and the substrate material.
On Dec. 14, the National Paint & Coatings Association (NPCA) filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California challenging California's fee program for volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions authorized by legislative initiative AB 10X and enacted by California Gov. Gray Davis in March 2003.
Cal Poly announced that Behr Process of Santa Ana, Calif., and its parent company, Masco Corp. of Taylor, Mich., have given a combined gift of $300,000 in support of Cal Poly's College of Science and Mathematics.
The Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology (FSCT) is extending the Call for Papers deadlines for the first two new Advancements in Coatings Series (ACSeries) programs: "Research Methods in the 21st Century: A Toolkit for Competitive Advantage" and "Nanotechnology in Coatings: Realizing the Potential."
NACD Immediate Past Chairman Thomas H. Coyne, president of George S. Coyne Chemical Co., Inc., Croydon, Pa., was awarded 2004 Distributor of the Year by the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD).
Rohm and Haas Co. said it will incur a fourth-quarter pretax charge of approximately $18 million for cash severance and employee-separation benefits affecting an estimated 200 employment positions that will be eliminated as part of an ongoing restructuring program.
Edwin Bigelow passed away on December 1, 2004, at the age of 68. In 1955, he launched a lifetime career when he began working in resin synthesis at Freeman Chemical in Port Washington, Wis.
On December 15, 2004, Clariant opened its new Technical Service Center in the Caohejing High Tech Park in Shanghai, adding another milestone to its presence in China.