BASF Coatings Services (Pty) Ltd. is set to take over the business of MAB Auto Body Parts and Paint Centre Ltd. in Johannesburg, South Africa. MAB sales activities related to automotive refinish products, nonpaint products, body panels and services, as well as the staff and parts of the management, will be integrated into BASF Coatings Services (Pty) Ltd.

AkzoNobel has agreed to sell its Para® and Crown Diamond® decorative paint brands in Canada to General Paint Corp. The sale is in line with the commitment package that was agreed with the Canadian authorities in connection with AkzoNobel’s acquisition of Imperial Chemical Industries plc (ICI) in January.

Michelman has acquired Raleigh, NC-based Hydrosize® Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of state-of-the-art coatings including sizings, film formers, fixatives, binders as well as resins for the coating and composite industries. Key to the acquisition, Hydrosize gives Michelman a waterborne polyurethane sizing technology designed specifically for the fibers and composites market.

PPG Industries Inc.’s architectural coatings unit will raise prices for the second time in less than three months. The company cited rapidly rising raw material and energy costs as the reason for the price increases, which will take place during the third quarter across all distribution channels.

Derek Matheson has joined Miltec UV in Stevensville, MD, as general manager. The company also has added Kyle Dickerhoff to its sales force.

Tex Gunning will join AkzoNobel as managing director of its Decorative Paints business, effective September 1, 2008. Former CEO and chairman of the board of Vedior and a former Unilever senior executive, Gunning will be nominated to join the AkzoNobel board of management as member responsible for Decorative Paints at the company’s next AGM in April 2009.

Xiom Corp., developer and manufacturer of a portable polymer spray system, has formed an affiliate company called Extreme Mobile Coating. According to its charter, Extreme Mobile Coating is to franchise contractors to apply antimicrobial-protected coatings in areas of high public traffic. The target market is hospitals, fast food restaurants, sport venues, colleges and schools.

Success breeds success. That’s why Finishing Today is in the midst of a website redesign. Nearly two years ago we revamped and repositioned our magazine to meet the information needs of coatings professionals, and now we’re updating our website to achieve the same purpose.

Mergal® 753 from Troy Corp. is a highly concentrated, water-based BIT dispersion with less water content compared to other BIT products, as well as no solvents, no VOC, and no formaldehyde. The product provides low-odor, broad-spectrum protection against microbial degradation in aqueous systems.

When King Polytechnic Engineering Co. Ltd. (KPEC), a major optoelectronics and semiconductor equipment manufacturer, wanted to replace the PTFE coating on its medium- to large-sized spin/dip coating equipment, it switched to VICOTE® Coating based on VICTREX® PEEK™ polymer. The new coatings substantially reduced maintenance requirements.