Houston-based Verdant Specialty Solutions has announced its first acquisitions since being sold by Solvay to OpenGate Capital in April and renamed, in the form of DeForest Enterprises and ParaFlow Energy Solutions from Chemical Services Group of Boca Raton, Florida. Terms were not disclosed.

DeForest is a specialty surfactants company with a range of chemistries including low-foam wetting agents, alkaline-, acid- chlorine- and peroxide-stable surfactants, high- and low-foam amphoteric surfactants, hydrotropes, water-soluble corrosion inhibitors and phosphate esters.

DuPont and the companies that used to be part of it, Chemours and Corteva, have reached a settlement with the Delaware Department of Justice. Under this, they are held responsible for decades of damage done to Delaware’s environment by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs).

The agreement has avoided a potential lawsuit for historic contamination by PFASs in Delaware, which remains DuPont’s headquarters. This had impacted waterways and groundwater located in each of the state’s three counties.

Flush with funds from its IPO, Indian speciality chemicals manufacturer Rossari is to make its second acquisition of in as many months. Following on from the $57.7 million acquisition of Unitop Chemicals in June, it has agreed to acquire Tristar Intermediates in two tranches of 76% now and 24% in three years’ time. The total enterprise value of the transaction is $16 million. Tristar’s current management will stay on for at least three years.

UK distributors hit by driver shortage The Chemical Business Association (CBA), which represents chemical distributors and logistics services providers in the UK, has again highlighted the chronic shortage of HGV drivers since Brexit. This, they said in a letter to the Secretaries of State for Transport and Business “has reached a critical point for the UK chemical supply chain”.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and continued uncertainties about international travel, Mack-Brooks Exhibitions has announced the postponement of Chemspec Europe 2021, which was scheduled to take place at Messe Frankfurt on 29-30 September 2021. It will now return to its late spring slot on 31 May-1 June 2022, at the same venue.

Emily Newton, editor of Revolutionized Magazine, looks at how chemical processing plants can improve their performance by anticipating rather than reacting to maintenance issues

An ongoing trend in the chemicals industry is decision-makers at processing plant transitioning to preventive maintenance rather than reacting once problems with company equipment become apparent. This article highlights six specific reasons why this is a reliable way to optimise chemical manufacturing.

Consistently high quality levels

Two pharmaceutical CDMOs, AMRI in the US and UK-based Arcinova, have almost simultaneously announced full corporate rebranding exercises. The former has become Curia, which is derived from a Latin word for ‘purposeful assembly’, as of 12 July, while the latter is taking the name Quotient Sciences – Alnwick.