Axalta Completes Waterborne Expansion at Jiading Plant

SHANGHAI — Axalta Coating Systems has completed the expansion of its waterborne coatings plant in Jiading, Shanghai, China. The expanded site is designed to meet the growing demand for sustainable coating solutions for automotive, commercial vehicle and industrial markets in China and the Asia-Pacific region.

The expansion includes new added waterborne basecoat, primer and small-batch capacity, featuring advanced product and production technology. The new production facilities, in addition to two new warehouses, will more than double the Jiading waterborne plant's production capacity. The facility optimizes productivity through advanced automation, maximizes the use of raw materials and accelerates manufacturing cycle time, while minimizing the environmental impact of the production process.

"The Jiading expansion further strengthens Axalta's position as a leader in eco-responsible coatings, and supports our long-term growth strategy. Our investment in waterborne coatings embodies the principles of sustainable manufacturing while ensuring we continue to meet our productivity and profitability goals," said Barry Snyder, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations and Supply Chain Officer. "Axalta will continue to make investments in China that expand our footprint and capabilities in order to meet the growing needs of our customers."

Market and customer demand for waterborne coatings is growing at the expense of less environmentally friendly products. Axalta's waterborne coatings significantly improve productivity and energy savings while reducing the environmental footprint of the painting process for OEM customers in the automotive, commercial vehicle, e-mobility and industrial materials markets.

"The automotive market in China continues to be the largest in the world and a growth engine for global mobility. Its industry is also at the forefront of sustainable manufacturing in terms of VOC emissions," said Nicolas Franc de Ferrière, Vice President, Mobility, Asia Pacific. "Our Jiading plant expansion reflects our ambition to capture the growing demand for high-quality, eco-friendly coatings and continue to support our customers to reach new quality and environmental standards."

Axalta is an established leader in waterborne paint solutions for the mobility sector and was among the first suppliers to introduce waterborne automotive coatings to China in the late 1980s. Axalta opened its Shanghai Jiading waterborne plant in March 2015. This most recent expansion is now fully operational, and is producing and delivering products to major leading automotive OEMs and industrial materials customers in China.

Ashland Opens Architectural Coatings Lab in Singapore

WILMINGTON, DE — Ashland has opened a new architectural coatings technical service laboratory in Singapore. The new laboratory expands the company's footprint to provide local customer support in Southeast Asia.

"We've been building our relationships with customers in South East Asia for years," said Hilbert Esselbrugge, Global Innovation Lead, Specialty Additives, Ashland. "Our investment in the region demonstrates our commitment to solve customers' complex problems with specialty additives innovations. This new lab, along with our Technical Center of Excellence in Shanghai, China, is an important investment for our future."

"Our new Singapore laboratory will have a positive and immediate impact on our ability to support customers in the region and to respond faster and more efficiently," said Chris Brown, Vice President, Coatings and Construction, Ashland.

Ashland is a global leader in rheology modifiers, specifically the additives portion of paint formulations. The new facility reinforces Ashland's strategic plan to strengthen relationships with customers and focus on additives innovations designed for local market needs.

Prince International to Acquire Ferro Corp.

CLEVELAND — Ferro Corp., a leading global supplier of technology-based functional coatings and color solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Prince International Corp., a portfolio company of American Securities LLC, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.1 billion, including the assumption of debt, net of cash. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the Ferro Corp. board of directors, Prince will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Ferro for $22.00 per share in cash.

"This transaction creates significant value for our shareholders. Ferro has successfully executed a five-phase transformation strategy that has resulted in creating a global leader in functional coatings and color solutions focused on high-growth markets. Our products are used in critical industries such as healthcare, automotive, electronics, aerospace and construction, while being aligned with key global megatrends such as IoT, 5G and sustainability. The steps we have taken to develop a cohesive, technology-driven portfolio and enhance our market leadership positions with long-standing, market-leading customers and deliver sustainable growth, have made Ferro an attractive investment," said Peter Thomas, Chairman, President and CEO of Ferro Corp.

"Ferro's first quarter 2021 performance demonstrates the strength of our business, with revenue and gross profit significantly higher than the same period last year. Optimization initiatives throughout the Company also contributed to the strong first-quarter performance," concluded Thomas.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of Ferro's shareholders and regulatory approvals, and is currently expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Prince specializes in developing, manufacturing and marketing specialty products, many custom developed, for niche applications in the construction, electronics, consumer products, agriculture, automotive, oil and gas, industrial, and other end markets. Prince employs approximately 1,200 employees across 21 facilities located on six continents.

"Ferro's transformation culminated in the transaction with Prince, which we believe represents compelling value for our shareholders, as well as a great opportunity for our employees. We are pleased to be able to partner with a market leader like Prince to grow our businesses on a truly global scale.

Arkema Expands Bostik's Business in the United States

COLOMBES, France — Arkema is expanding Bostik's offerings in high-performance adhesives in the United States with the planned acquisition of Edge Adhesives Texas, a complementary asset in hot-melt adhesives and pressure sensitive adhesive tapes for residential construction. This project is in line with Arkema's strategy of bolt-on acquisitions to develop greater reach in adhesives and deliver new products to meet expanding demand. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

In addition to delivering strong technological, industrial and commercial synergies, the project will enable Bostik to offer its customers an extended range of value-added and sustainable solutions in hot-melt pressure sensitive adhesives.

Edge Adhesives Texas is a developer and manufacturer of innovative adhesive solutions used in residential buildings. It has annual sales of around $12 million. The company, which operates a plant in Fort Worth, Texas, has approximately 50 employees and specializes in custom formulations in fast-growing easy-install window, door and roofing applications.

Nouryon Invests in Expandable Microspheres Plant in Wisconsin

AMSTERDAM — Nouryon has begun the engineering phase at its Expancel expandable microspheres plant in Wisconsin, moving one step closer to better serving its specialty additives customers in North America. Construction on the plant is expected to begin at the end of the year.

The expansion project, announced in 2019, strengthens Nouryon's position in expandable microspheres. The Green Bay, Wisconsin, location was selected to complement the company's existing production sites in Sweden, Brazil and China. Expandable microspheres are used to make customers' end products lighter, and reduce cost and environmental impact by requiring less raw material.

The Midwest production facility currently supports Nouryon customers with the final step of the Expancel production process. Once complete, the plant will be well positioned with the full expandable microspheres production process, from start to finish.

"The ability to produce lightweight solutions for our key end markets in packaging, construction and transportation in the U.S. presents tremendous growth opportunities for Nouryon as our customers increasingly focus on implementing more sustainable solutions," said Johan Landfors, Executive Vice President and President of Technology Solutions at Nouryon. "Nouryon's investment in this important facility reinforces our commitment to be a trusted partner to our customers."

"Nouryon is seeing a significant increase in demand for expandable microspheres, particularly in the packaging, construction and transportation industries in North America, which is being driven by global sustainability trends," said Sylvia Winkel Pettersson, Vice President, Engineered Polymers at Nouryon. "This next phase in the development of our manufacturing facility is an important step to enable Nouryon to meet that fast-growing demand."

Aakash Chemicals Rebrands as Vivify

"Vivify is an industry leader in colorants and specialty ingredients, serving customers across multiple consumer and industrial end markets. Following organic growth and several transformative acquisitions, we are changing our name to better reflect the increased breadth of our product and solutions offering under a single name," said Devlin Riley, CEO. "The powerful Vivify logo, and the tag line 'Color, Ingredients, Innovation', effectively captures our value-added capabilities, representing an exciting next step in our journey as a company. We look forward to continuing to provide our customers with the high level of service they have become accustomed to under the Vivify brand."

The company's new website highlights Vivify's capabilities, products and services to customers in the personal care and cosmetics, food and beverage, packaging, plastics, coatings, and seed treatment industries. Along with the new brand and logo, the new website offers a seamless and intuitive customer experience and includes features such as sample ordering.

GLENDALE HEIGHTS, IL — Aakash Chemicals & Dye-Stuffs, a supplier of colorants and specialty ingredients headquartered in Glendale Heights, Illinois, has rebranded as Vivify Specialty Ingredients.