Zeon Chemicals to acquire DSM's NBR business.

Zeon Chemicals, Louisville, KY and DSM Copolymer, Baton Rouge, LA, have agreed in principle that Zeon will acquire DSM Copolymer's NYsyn NBR and NYsynblak NBR business. The transaction, which is expected to be closed at the end of January, includes business assets such as customer lists, product technology, contractual arrangements and trademark licensing. DSM Copolymer manufactures NBR (nitrile butadiene rubber) in a multi-purpose plant at its Baton Rouge, LA production site. Its current NBR capacity is 15,000 tpa. The multi-purpose plant also produces SBR (capacity 160,000 tpa). Employees involved in NBR production at this plant will continue to be employed by DSM Copolymer. Under the terms of the intended contract, Zeon will have the exclusive right to purchase NBR products from DSM Copolymer. The manufacture of these products will continue to take place in the DSM Copolymer facility. Zeon will be responsible for worldwide marketing and selling these products, as well as for customer service and technical service.

Uniroyal Chemical, Middlebury, CT, a subsidiary of Crompton & Knowles, has acquired 100% ownership of its rubber chemicals joint venture, Unikor, located in Ansan, South Korea. The transaction included the buyout of Dongbu Fine Chemicals Co., Ltd., shares in the joint venture by Uniroyal Chemical and the transfer of land. The companies have shared a 50/50 ownership stake in the joint venture since 1989.

Cooper Tire & Rubber, Findlay, OH, has completed its purchase of the business of Dean Tire & Rubber, a Louisville, KY-based tire distributor. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Bayer, Pittsburgh, PA, is realigning its chemicals and polymers businesses to sharpen the focus on U.S. customers and enhance overall performance by creating three new divisions in this area. Bayer will expand its commitment to the plastics and polyurethanes markets by splitting these businesses out of its existing Polymers Division and forming two new divisions: the Plastics Division and the Polyurethanes Division. The Plastics Division will manufacture and market Bayer's thermoplastic resins and specialty plastics for a range of applications, as well as have responsibility for thermoplastic polyurethane films. The Polyurethanes Division will manufacture and market raw materials and processing equipment for structural engineering polymers and foams for the automotive, appliance, construction and furniture industries. Bayer's Fibers, Additives and Rubber Divison, Akron, OH, announced the formation of the Therban Team, a cross-disciplinary group of 22 select individuals within the Bayer FAR Division committed to promoting the company's high-performance specialty elastomer.

Pinnacle Elastomeric Technology, Braselton, GA, a manufacturer of fluoroelastomer compounds, custom mixing, chemical and color dispersions, officially opened on November 25. In addition, the company is promoting its technical consultation services to fluoroelastomer users.

Pomini, the Rubber & Plastics Equipment Division of Techint Technologies, has moved its Brecksville, OH office to the corporate offices of Techint Technologies, located in Coraopolis, PA.

The Dutch chemicals group DSM intends to split up the DSM Resins business group into two business groups (DSM Coating Resins and DSM Industrial Resins & Compounds) and one business unit (Radcure Products). DSM Resins has annual sales of about NLG 1.5 billion and employs about 1,750 people. DSM opened a sales office, DSM Scandinavia A/S, in Birkerod, Denmark. The establishment of this sales office follows the takeover by DSM of its local agent Macrodan A/S. The office will initially be involved in the sales of polyethylenes, polypropylenes, styrenics, engineering plastics and elastomers, including thermoplastic elastomers.

Butler Automatic, Middleborough, MA, has purchased Hydralign of Avon, MA, a manufacturer of web aligners, chucking systems, unwind/rewind systems and accumulators.

Mannesmann BOGE GmbH, Bad Godesberg, Germany, through its U.S. affiliate, Fichtel & Sachs Industries, will acquire 100% ownership of the current joint venture, Eagle-Picher-Boge, L.L.C., with Eagle-Picher Industries. The joint venture was formed in June 1997 and is headquartered in Paris, IL. Eagle-Picher-Boge designs and manufactures conventional and hydraulic rubber-tometal components for suspension and drive line applications. Eagle-Picher-Boge will change its name to BOGE North America to reflect the global expansion and regional strategy of Mannesmann BOGE.

ICI plc has formed Uniqema, a global specialty chemicals business comprising several members of the ICI group, including ICI Lubricants, ICI Surfactants, Mona Industries, Solaveil and Unichema International. Uniqema's global headquarters will be in London, U.K., and it will operate from 33 operational sites around the world, employing 3,200 people. The Americas headquarters will be located in Wilmington, DE.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Akron, OH, has planned a $7.5 billion expansion at its Canadian manufacturing facility in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, to produce all bias convenience spare tires for North America. About 46,000 square feet will be added to the facility to accommodate new equipment. It will also mean the addition of between 100 to 120 new jobs. Construction will start immediately, with a planned completion by January 2000.

Elf Atochem has reached an agreement, through its subsidiary Ato Findley, with the British group Johnstone, with a view to acquiring the performance products activities of its subsidiary Cementone Ltd. for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition covers products marketed under the tradename Cementone for the building sector. These include sealants and additives complementing the Evo-Stick range from Ato Findley UK.

Freudenberg & Co. of Weinheim, Germany has agreed to purchase an interest of specialized gasket-maker Meillor S.A. of Nantiat, France, which is said to expand the Freudenberg and NOK Group's ability to serve global automakers with total powertrain sealing capabilities.

Lyondell announced the start-up of a production unit utilizing the company's patented Impact technology for the production of high performance, ultra-low monol polyols at Rieme, Belgium. This is the first step in a plan to create significant global capacity for Lyondell's ultra-pure polyols.

Clariant Masterbatches Division, Easton, MD, opened a facility, Clariant - Division Melanges-Maitres, in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. The 24,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility located in the suburbs of Montreal features three lines to manufacture custom concentrates and a fully equipped color matching laboratory.

TRW, Cleveland, OH, has reached an agreement to acquire the principal assets of Woo Jin Co., Ltd., a supplier of automotive interior and exterior plastic products located in Ulsan, Korea. The transaction is subject to government and regulatory approvals, and terms were not disclosed.

Amoco Chemical has brought on stream a major expansion of its purified isophthalic acid (PIA) unit at Joliet, IL. The expansion brings Amoco's total annual worldwide PIA capacity to 350,000 tons. The company also has completed and started up a metaxylene (MX) unit at Texas City, TX. The expansion brings Amoco's total annual MX capacity to 225,000 metric tons.

Federal-Mogul, Detroit, MI, has agreed to acquire Glockler Dichtsystems Gunter Hemmrich GmbH, a manufacturer of rubber sealing components and acoustic decoupling for inter alia valve covers, intake manifolds and oil pans. Glockler has manufacturing facilities in Bretton, Germany and Gyor, Hungary, and employs approximately 370 people with sales over $40 million. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.