Breaking News Roundup

24 March 2003 00:00  [Source: ICB Americas]

Procter & Gamble Acquires Wella

Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has signed an agreement to purchase German hair care products maker Wella AG for  3.2 billion ($3.4 billion) in cash by purchasing Wella's 77.6 percent voting shares. P&G also intends to make a tender offer for the remaining Wella shares, which are valued at  5.4 billion. According to P&G, the acquisition will contribute around  3.4 billion in total sales to the company's overall beauty business, with  1.6 billion in the professional hair care segment,  1 billion in the retail hair care segment and  800 million in fragrances.

Dow Enters Oligonucleotides Joint Venture

Dow Chemical Company's pharmaceutical manufacturing services business unit, Dowparma, has signed a supply deal with Canadian drug development company Topigen Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dowpharma will supply select proprietary oligonucleotides to Topigen using its laboratory and midscale cGMP oligonucleotide development and manufacturing capabilities. Dow expects to have a commercial unit with 500 kilogram annual capacity on line in late 2003.

IMC Projects Gains on Second Quarter Earnings

IMC Global expects its second quarter earnings outlook to gain from rapidly increasing phosphate prices. Earnings per share from continuing operations are projected in the 15 to 20 cents range, driven by a sharp increase in diammonium phosphate (DAP) prices since the start of 2003. The current domestic DAP spot price is said to be at its highest level since late 1998. For first quarter earnings, IMC reaffirmed prior guidance of a loss from continuing operations in the 10 to 20 cents per share range.

Shipley Sells Photoresist Business to Eternal

Shipley Company LLC has sold its dry film photoresist business used in printed wiring board (PWB) to Taiwan-based Eternal Chemical Company for an undisclosed sum. As part of that sale, Shipley will close its North American and European PWB operations by the end of 2003, with a head count reduction of 140. Eternal will make its expanded product line under its own label, with Shipley distributing the entire Eternal product line in North America and Europe as well as to Shipley's existing customers in Asia. Shipley says that this sale will allow the company to better serve the PWB market. "A careful analysis of the North American and European dry film photoresist business drove us to the realization that we needed to look for a new model," says a Shipley spokesperson.

ADM Closes Citric Acid Facility

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has shuttered its citric acid facility in Ringaskiddy, Ireland. The plant, which has a capacity of 60,000 tons of citric acid per year, was initially closed after a labor union representing operators of the plant unofficially stopped working due to a disagreement with management, according to an ADM official. The company has since decided to keep the plant closed for "a temporary period of time" while it reviews its overall citric acid operations and assesses the difficult business climate for the product as well as the history of labor issues at that site, the official says. The closure further tightens supply in Western Europe. The Czech citric acid company Aktiva A/S has closed its plant in Kaznejob, reportedly taking another 25,000 metric tons in annual citric acid production capacity off the market.

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