Huntsman Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the chemicals business of Laffans Petrochemicals Ltd. Located in Ankleshwar, India the Laffans chemicals business manufactures amines and surfactants. The chemicals business has 130 employees and annual sales of approximately $45 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2011. The Laffans chemicals business will be integrated into Huntsman's Performance Products division. "In addition to the recently announced expansion of our polyetheramine facility in Singapore, the acquisition of this business is strategically important as we look to meet the rapid growth in demand for other amines within Asia," said Daniele Ferrari, president of the Performance Products Division. "This acquisition will bring total annual Huntsman Corporation sales in India to approximately $260 million or three percent of total sales."

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PPG Industries has introduced Claritage Extra anti-scratch topcoat, a factory finish for wood floors. Claritage Extra anti-scratch topcoats are based on new PPG proprietary ultraviolet-curable resins and nanotechnology that make them resistant to scratches and stains, enabling them to help wood floors retain their original gloss longer.

“In standardized wear testing against 14 competing products, Claritage Extra topcoats remained scratch-resistant after 3,000 cycles of abrasive scrubbing, while the next-best competitor failed after 1,200 cycles,” said Randy Brown, PPG technology manager for UV flooring in North America. “The topcoat achieved similar results in testing for gloss retention and resistance to stains from common household materials such as shoe polish, nail polish, mustard, iodine, food color, dyes and colored markers.”

“For several years, our customers have told us that better scratch resistance is a top priority," said Brian Knapp, PPG market manager for UV flooring in North America. "We worked closely with several of them to perfect the technology.”

In addition to scratch and stain resistance, Brown said Claritage Extra topcoats feature added clarity to highlight wood’s natural grain patterns. “To increase durability, coating manufacturers typically formulate finishes with additives that can make them look cloudy," he said. "We eliminated that problem by basing Claritage Extra topcoats on PPG nanoparticle technology. In fact, these coatings are an extension of PPG nanotechnologies that already have achieved commercial success in anti-scratch automotive and colorful consumer electronics coatings."

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BASF Coatings GmbH in Münster, Germany, and the Audatex GmbH in Stansstad, Switzerland, have agreed to comprehensive international cooperation. As part of the Solera Group, Audatex is a top solutions provider for the processing of collision damage and an established partner of insurance companies, bodyshops, carmakers and automotive experts. The majority of computerized damage estimates are based on an Audatex calculation. "BASF Coatings is the first company from the coatings sector with which we have concluded such an agreement on an international level," said Jan Koolen, senior director of industry relations at the Solera Global Automotive Center.

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Fresard of Ferndale, a Detroit-area automotive dealership and collision repair facility, transitioned its shop to waterborne basecoat from solvent-based systems in anticipation of new air quality regulations. The collision shop is now using the AWX Waterborne Basecoat System from Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes. Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes implemented AWX, a waterborne basecoat system that utilizes a proprietary resin technology that allows it to behave like the solvent borne systems of today. AWX was designed to be an easy-to-use, high-quality color coating that provides excellent color match and offers up to a 96% decrease in VOC emissions compared to other solvent-borne coatings.

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PPG and Steelscape will jointly market Dazzle colorful metallic coverings for walls, ceilings and other interior surfaces and accessories. The new line of Dazzle coverings features Truform tinted clear coatings by PPG applied to galvanized TruZinc panels by Steelscape. The products are available in 16 color options encompassing eight tinted clearcoats and two gloss levels. Because of their clearcoat appearance, Truform tinted coatings enable Dazzle coverings to join the natural spangle of TruZinc products with a vivid color palette. Suggested applications for Dazzle coverings include column covers, wall panels, decorative ceilings, heating and cooling equipment and walk-in coolers. The product also provides a colorful alternative to white boards because it resists dry-erase and permanent markers. Dazzle coverings are resistant to fingerprints, stains, graffiti, scratches and marring. For building owners, this durability means less maintenance along with the ability to add color without the disruption of painting. It also is lighter and less expensive than other materials.

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Valspar has introduced a new paint color and performance technology with the launch of Valspar Signature Colors with the Hi-DEF Advanced Color System. The new formulation, available exclusively at Lowe's, includes a hiding formula, which covers most old colors in one coat, delivering a faster, easier application, according to the company. Available exclusively at Lowe's stores nationwide, Valspar Signature Colors with the Hi-DEF Advanced Color System technology comes in matte, eggshell, satin and semi-gloss finishes, and comes with a lifetime warranty. Valspar Signature Colors with the Hi-DEF Advanced Color System technology retails for $30.98 to $33.98 per gallon.

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MetoKote Corporation has opened a €6.5 million coating center in the Friesenheimer Insel area of Mannheim, Germany, that began production in July 2010 and will supply electro-deposition coating (e-coat) on tractor components for Germany’s leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment, John Deere.

Located approximately nine kilometers (5.5 miles) from John Deere’s European headquarters and tractor assembly facility, MetoKote’s 11,500 square meter (near 124,000 square foot) site features an advanced e-coat operation, capable of coating multiple substrates including steel, and aluminum and iron castings.

The line’s all-spray, zinc phosphate pretreatment, and 61.6 cubic meter (17,000 gallon) e-coat tanks are able to process components up to 0.91M x 1.83M x 3.5M (3’ x 6’ x 11.5’) in size and transport them through the line by way of its “power-and-free,” non-synchronized, overhead conveyer system. The cathodic e-coating system has two-color capability. Maximum coating capacity for the line is 2.2 million square meters (23.7 million square feet) per year. At full capacity the facility can employ up to 50 team members.

MetoKote’s Mannheim coating operation meets all required environmental compliance regulations with its own integrated waste-water treatment center that can process six cubic meters (1,585 gallons) of water per shift. An inherently eco-friendly process, e-coating reclaims 98% of its material, returning it back to the operation. The facility also boasts a solar panel roof which will return 0.18 megawatts of electricity back to the Mannheim grid on an annual basis. The facility begins initial operations in support of John Deere; however, MetoKote will expand its coating services by supplying e-coat to other customers in the region. MetoKote has access to an additional 12,500 square meters (three acres) of land for future expansion.

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Sika AG’s U.S. subsidiary, Sika Corporation, has acquired the Green­streak Group, Inc. Head­quartered in St. Louis, Missouri, annual revenues for Greenstreak are approximately $30 million. Sika expects this acquisition will further strengthen its leadership position in the North American construction industry. The acquired company has been manufacturing products for the construction industry, including a wide range of forming accessories, engineered waterstops and joint seals, doweling systems, architectural form liners, and pipeline protections.

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Mondi Akrosil LLC has entered into an asset agreement with Nitto Americas regarding their recently discontinued facility—to be named Mondi Kenosha—in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Thomas Schäbinger, CEO of Mondi Coatings, said that “this acquisition enables Mondi Kenosha to add nearly 4.8 billion square feet of highly competitive capacity and it will complement the existing facilities in Menasha, Wisconsin and Lancaster, Ohio.”

Mondi will purchase the 168,000 square foot building, 60 acres of land, and other outstanding assets. The new state-of-the-art facility provides ample room for expansion and is an excellent value in terms of building, land and coating assets, initially including two flexible, high-speed coating lines. Mondi intends to develop the Kenosha facility into Mondi’s leading plant for specialized release liners in the rising U.S. market and beyond.

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Strongsville, Ohio-based Glidden Professional Paints and Lakewood-based HomeSphere have entered into a joint agreement to offer the company’s full line of Professional Paints to HomeSphere’s network of builders, using the company’s technology-leveraged services.
Glidden Professional joins more than 75 other manufacturers currently using HomeSphere’s BRI Program to manage rebates for homebuilders and, in turn, grow their market share through increased homebuilder sales. In return, builders gain access to cost savings on Glidden Professional paints, a national brand exclusively for the commercial paint market, including contractors, architects, facility owners and managers.

“The BRI partnership provides a powerful tool to further extend our national manufacturing and distribution network,” said John Pesognelli, national sales manager for Glidden Professionals’ New Home Construction Division. “HomeSphere provides a platform to communicate the change to new builders and distributors and to grow market share among our potential customers.”
BRI is a web-based service serving the residential construction industry. Manufacturers use the BRI application to open up sales channels that include thousands of homebuilders and remodeling contractors, gaining inroads to new accounts and building recognition for their products and services. Builders, on the other hand, gain product knowledge and manage their cash-producing rebates, helping them to improve their bottom line.

The Glidden Professional paint brand offers a rich tradition of innovation and color inspiration, having consistently embodied quality and performance for generations of customers. Glidden Professional paints are sold through more than 500 Glidden Professional Paint Centers and authorized dealers across the U.S.

“BRI is a powerful marketing tool,” said Chris Toth, HomeSphere’s vice president of sales. “Particularly during trying times for the residential building industry, our customers and clients build sales and marketing channels that position their brand solidly for the future.”

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