Business Briefs.

KDE Sales & Service moves to expanded headquarters

ACQUISITIONS, EXPANSIONS

KDE Sales & Service, the North American subsidiary of Klockner Desma Elastomertechnik GmbH, signed a 10-year contract with Neyer, a Cincinnati, OH-based developer, for a new 24,000 sq. ft. North American headquarters. The facility will be located in a new technology-based industrial park minutes from the greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport. The facility is said to better identify with the space requirements of the company's three main business fields, including Desma rubber injection molding machines, Windsor injection molding machinery (service and spare parts) and Desma rotary machinery for the shoe industry. The new facility will be completed in December.

SKM Applied Technology Partners, Radnor, PA, has acquired A.K. Rubber Products, Elkhorn, WI, a precision molded rubber products manufacturer serving the medical, healthcare, electronics, fluid control and transportation industries.

Dow Chemical is completing construction of its new liquid epoxy resin and world-scale epichlorohydrin production facility expansions in Freeport, TX, which are expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 1999. Both production facilities will incorporate improved manufacturing process technology. The production facilities will increase Dow's capacity for liquid epoxy resin by 90 million pounds and its capacity for epichlorohydrin by 250 million pounds.

Dana's Plumley Division completed a 13,000 sq. ft. renovation and expansion program to double the size of the laboratory in its Rubber Products Design Center located at the division's headquarters in Paris, TN. The facility will accelerate the development of new rubber compounds and materials used in Plumley's extensive line of tube and hose products supplied to original equipment manufacturers in the automotive, marine and small engine industries, according to the company.

Wacker Silicones, Adrian, MI, a supplier of heat curable and liquid silicone rubbers, fluids, polymers and resins throughout North America, has purchased Precision Silicones of Chino, CA, a compounder of customized silicone formulations for applications in the aerospace, electronic and automotive industries.

AirBoss of America, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, announced that the planned custom mixing expansion at the company's 100% owned ITRM custom rubber mixing facility in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada has been completed. The expansion brings AirBoss' rubber mixing capacity to approximately 200 million pounds annually.

Alpha Technologies, Akron, OH, a provider of rheological testing instrumentation for the rubber and polymer industries, has acquired Eclipse Technical Software Services, Prinsenbeek, the Netherlands, a specialist in the development and marketing of integrated software solutions for the rubber and polymer industries. Eclipse will be managed as a separate division within Alpha Technologies in order to maintain its independent position in the industry.

Montell North America, Wilmington, DE, has expanded its capability to develop products and supply resins for the thermoforming market with the installation of a state-of-the-art coextrusion sheet line at its Marshallton technical center near Wilmington. The line, built and installed by Battenfeld-Gloucester Engineering, Gloucester, MA, has one main extruder and two satellite extruders that can make multi-layered sheet.

Ausimont USA, Thorofare, NJ, has acquired CTSP of Belle Meade, NJ and Montell's electron beam irradiation facility in Marshallton, DE. The acquisition of the electron beam irradiation facility, coupled with the milling technology of CTSP, is said to make Ausimont the only vertically integrated producer of micronized PTFE products.

Rhodia's precipitated silica production unit (Eurosil project) at Collonges au Mont d'Or, France, has come on stream. This unit is the first stage in an overall investment plan totalling 250 MF, enabling a 40% increase in Rhodia's European silica production capacity.

DSM, Heerlen, the Netherlands, has reached an agreement on the sale of the acitivities (and associated assets) of Polypenco Kunststofftechnik in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany in two parts to Polytron Kunststofftechnik GmbH & Co. KG in Bergisch Gladbach and Gapi Technische Produkte GmbH in Bak Kreuznach, Germany. These activities are part of the business group DSM Engineering Plastic Products. The sale of these activities is said to be in keeping with DSM's objective of concentrating its German activities in DSM EPP Deutschland GmbH in Sinsheim. The machined parts and sales of stock shapes activities of Polypenco Kunststofftechnik GmbH will be transferred to Polytron Kunststofftechnik GmbH & Co. KG, part of the Germany company Henderkott. The seals and automotive parts activities of Polypenco Kunststofftechnik GmbH will be transferred to Gapi Technische Produkte GmbH of Bad Kreuznach.

Solideal, Lebanon, IN, the manufacturer of Solideal 100% natural rubber industrial tires, announced a breakthrough in the integrated production of its industrial pneumatic and skid-steer loader tires. Solideal's own 3,000 acre rubber plantation is producing latex natural rubber. Solideal has opened a natural rubber processing plant, which is responsible for tapping rubber trees and milling, drying and smoking the natural rubber. The sheet rubber is then shipped to the Solideal tire production factories for the production/molding of the 100% natural rubber Solideal industrial and SKS pneumatic tires. This fully integrated mill activity is said to provide for total control over the complete Solideal manufacturing process.

Adco Global, Raleigh, NC, a private company formed by Aurora Capital Group, Los Angeles, CA, to acquire companies in the adhesives, sealants and coatings industry, has completed two acquisitions. Adco Global acquired all the outstanding stock of Tioga International, as well as the assets of the Adco Products Division of Astor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlliedSignal.

Eagle-Picher Automotive's Hillsdale Division has acquired Carpenter Enterprises, Traverse City, MI, for $71.5 million.

Freudenberg-NOK, Plymouth, MI, plans to build new plants in Franklin and Laconia, NH, as well as begin production at its Ashland and Northfield, NH facilities. The Franklin and Laconia facilities will produce beating seals and shock, strut and steering seals, respectively. Freudenberg-NOK's Ashland small-lot focused factory will produce low-volume radial shaft seals for the automotive and general industry segments. The Northfield axle seal focused factory will begin production this month.

Kneader Machinery USA Ltd., Norton, OH, has opened its remodeled facility, which includes sales, engineering and technical support sections. The 14,000 sq. ft. manufacturing area has a 75 liter dispersion mixer, a twin screw feeder extruder, a pelletizing line and all the peripheral equipment that supports it. Kneader Machinery also unveiled its line of injection and vacuum molding presses with a 300 ton vacuum and a 400 ton injection press on site for customer inspections.

Elf Atochem, Philadelphia, PA, is expanding plastic additives production at its Carrollton, KY plant with the addition of a methyltin product line. With its existing capacity for butyltin and octyltin production, Elf Atochem is said to be the only company in the U.S. to produce all three tin stabilizers for the PVC industry.

Maguire Products, Aston, PA, has established Maguire Asia to support its comprehensive network of distributors throughout this region, promising delivery within two weeks to customers anywhere between China and New Zealand or between India and Japan. With headquarters in Singapore and another office in Shanghai, Maguire Asia will provide direct regional access to various resources, including sales and technical support.

Zumbach Electronic AG, Orpund, Switzerland, parent company of Zumbach Electronics, Mt. Kisco, NY, has acquired KJM Opto-Electronic Measurement GmbH of Moerlenbach, Germany. The KJM product line includes laser diffraction dimension gauging and profile measuring instruments.

Asbury Carbons, Asbury, NJ, has purchased Dixon/ Southwestern Graphite and Specialty Lubricants Division from Dixon Ticonderoga. Dixon's facility in Lakehurst, NJ will be Asbury Carbons' specialty products and lubricants division and will manufacture and distribute specialty lubricant products under the name of Dixon Southwestern Graphite, while the Dixon operation in Burnet, TX will remain a powder and granular graphite production location operating under the same name. Both locations are 100% owned subsidiaries of Asbury Carbons.

Imetal, Paris, France, has acquired English China Clays plc/ECC International, Roswell, GA. The Pigments and Additives Group of Imetal represents the combination of Dry Branch Kaolin, ECC, Georgia Marble and Rio Capim Caulim.

Flow Research, a market research company focusing on flow and related topics, has opened for business in Wakefield, MA. The company conducts market research for flow, temperature, pressure and level products used in industrial automation and process control.

King Safety Products, St. Charles, MO, announced a multi-million dollar expansion that will quadruple the size of its plant, warehouse and headquarters.

Crompton & Knowles and Witco agree to merge

Crompton & Knowles, Stamford, CT, parent company of Uniroyal and Davis-Standard, and Witco, Greenwich, CT, two worldwide producers of specialty chemicals, announced that their boards of directors have approved a definitive agreement for a tax-free, stock-for-stock merger of equals. The combined company, to be named C&K Witco, will be one of the world's largest specialty chemical companies with a total capitalization of approximately $3.9 billion. Headquartered in Connecticut, C&K Witco will have approximately 10,000 employees and hold global market leadership positions in additives, polymers and processing equipment, and specialty chemicals. Under the agreement, each share of Crompton & Knowles common stock will be converted into one share of C&K Witco and each share of Witco common stock will be exchanged for 0.9242 shares of common stock of the new company. The combined company will be owned (on a fully diluted basis) approximately 55% by current shareholders of Crompton & Knowles and approximately 45% by current shareholders of Witco.

Ashland Distribution's Industrial Chemicals and Solvents Division, Dublin, OH, is an authorized North American distributor of Witco's Arosurf AA asphalt emulsifiers and additives. These products are used to make asphalt emulsions used in paving and resurfacing.

Harwick Standard Distribution, Akron, OH, has been selected by Centrotrade Rubber USA, Akron, OH, as a distributor for its natural rubber. Under the agreement, Harwick Standard will offer all grades of natural rubber to non-tire accounts in the continental U.S., excluding Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Centrotrade is an international dealer and supplier of natural rubber and liquid latex from all the major producing areas of the world, specializing in the regions of Southeast Asia.

Montell Polyolefins, Showa Denko K.K., Nippon Petrochemicals Co., Ltd. and Taiwan Polypropylene Co. Ltd. have officially formed their Japanese polypropylene joint venture company, Montell SDK Sunrise Ltd. The new company is said to be the result of a unique polypropylene alliance announced by Montell, SDK and NPC last October. MSS will manufacture and sell polypropylene resins and advanced polyolefins for the Japanese marketplace and will have approximately a 10% share of the Japanese polypropylene market.

Poly-Nova Technologies, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, announced a formal partnership with Italian manufacturer NovoTema SRL. Both custom molders of precision rubber products, the companies will combine their strengths in catering to the North American and European automotive, appliance and business equipment markets.

Lord, Cary, NC, has named Lintech International as a distributor of Chemlok adhesives. Lintech is a full service chemical and mineral distribution company based in Macon, GA.

DSM Copolymer, Addis, LA, a producer of EPDM and specialty manufacturer of oil additives, has established a purchasing alliance with DSM Hydrocarbons, Houston, TX. DSM Hydrocarbons will direct hydrocarbons sourcing on behalf of DSM Copolymer facilities in Addis and Baton Rouge, LA.

Sida, Monterey Park, CA, and Meteor Gummiwerke K.H. Badje GmbH & Co., Bockenem, Germany, will cooperate in the wholly foreign owned rubber profiles and elastomer sealings enterprise Qingdao Meteor Rubber & Plastic in China. The company is located at Qingdao in Shandong Province in northeast China. The total investment is $8 million.

Rapra Technology Ltd., Shropshire, U.K., an independent rubber and plastics consultancy, announced a collaborative agreement with Compuplast International, Czech Republic, a provider of advanced CAE tools for the analysis and design of extrusion equipment. Under the terms of the agreement, Compuplast will have access to Rapra's Diecalc software code that will enable them to incorporate new features into their current product line. Rapra's current Diecalc licensees will also be offered favorable terms to acquire Compuplast technology and Rapra will become a worldwide reseller of Compuplast's Flow 2000 range of extrusion simulation software.

D.I.S. Tech Group Ltda., Medellin, Colombia and Long Island City, NY, will represent Dyna-Purge purging compounds produced by Shuman Plastics, Buffalo, NY, in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador.

Montell, Milan, Italy, and Elenac, Ludwigshafen, Germany, intend to establish a 50/50 joint venture to further research, development and license their processes for low-pressure gas-phase polyethylene and related product technology. The joint venture will also market and sell related catalyst components and catalyst systems. The joint venture will have access to both partners' interests in LPGPE technology, including Montell's LLDPE-HDPE Spherilene and Elenac's Lupotech G processes. Both parties will also contribute their relevant Ziegler-Natta, chromium and latests metallocene catalyst technologies.

VWR Scientific Products, West Chester, PA, received exclusive rights from Wilshire Technology for the U.S. distribution of UltraSolv polyurethane contamination control products.

Mokon Division of Protective Closures, Buffalo, NY, has appointed Hansen Plastics Group as its exclusive sales representative in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas to represent Mokon's line of circulating liquid temperature control systems and chillers.

Tesco Process and Controls International, Conroe, TX, and Ametek Test and Calibration Instruments, Largo, FL, have signed a sales management consulting agreement for the distribution of Ametek calibration and monitoring products in Latin America.

Year end 1998 financial results

                           Earnings ($)            Sales ($)

AirBoss of America             4.6 million          79.4 million
American Biltrite                9 million         423.9 million
Bayer                        208.4 million           8.1 billion
London International
  Group plc                   74.6 million         554.7 million
MRF Ltd.               360.5 Rs. in Crores   2,194 Rs. in Crores
Osmonics                       6.5 million           178 million
First quarter 1999 financial results

                           Earnings ($)        Sales ($)

AirBoss of America           1.8 million      24.2 million
American Biltrite            1.4 million       107 million
Continental                  101 million       1.9 billion
Cooper Tire & Rubber        31.4 million     467.9 million
DSM                      NLG 181 million   NLG 3.3 billion
Goodyear Tire & Rubber     141.5 million         3 billion
Rogers                       4.7 million        65 million
Union Carbide                 71 million       1.4 billion
Wynn's International         7.4 million      88.5 million

Quality registrations

American Rubber Products, Niles, MI, was granted ISO 9001/QS-9000 registration by Entela.

Advanced Refractory Technologies, Buffalo, NY, has been recommended for ISO 9001 certification.

Eyelet Products & Engineering, Dixon, IL, has been ISO 9002 and QS-9000 certified by Entela.

Krupp Rubber Machinery, Topeka, KS, a designer and manufacturer of new and rebuilt process equipment and parts for the rubber mixing industry, has achieved ISO 9001 and ANSI/ASQC Q9001 certification.

Reeves Brothers, Spartanburg, SC, a global supplier of automotive airbag material, earned QS-9000 registration from Underwriters Laboratories.

The Kraton Polymers Business of Shell Chemicals, Houston, TX, a supplier of styrenic block copolymers, announced that its facilities in Paulinia, Brazil have received ISO 9001 accreditation from the Bureau Veritas Quality International.

Thermoformed Products, Muskegon, MI, has received ISO 9001/QS-9000 registration from Entela.

Vredestein Jakobs, Lommel, Belgium, a manufacturer and supplier of rubber granulates for the rubber processing industry, has received ISO 9002 certification.

Western Rubber, Goshen, IN, a supplier of custom molded rubber and silicone, was awarded certification to QS-9000.

Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, announced that the tire plant of subsidiary Yokohama Tire Philippines has earned ISO 9002 certification from Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance Ltd.3