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Airgas says it has agreed to acquire the industrial gas and welding supply distributor Airtec (Hudson, WI), for an undisclosed amount. The transaction is expected to close on April 1, and is subject to customary closing conditions. Airtec reported 2005 sales of about $13 million, and has six locations in Wisconsin, and one in Minneapolis.

Arysta LifeScience North America (Cary, NC) says it has agreed to acquire Micro Flo (Memphis), a manufacturer and distributor of off-patent crop protection chemicals, from BASF. Terms were not disclosed. The deal includes products, registrations, patents, and a development laboratory at Sparks, GA; BASF will retain its formulation production facility at Sparks. The deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter, pending regulatory approval.

Solutia says it has completed the extension and upsizing of its debtor-in-possession (DIP) credit facility at a reduced interest rate. The new facility is $825 million, an increase of $300 million over the previous facility. "Our ability to successfully upsize and extend our DIP credit facility while reducing our interest rate is indicative of the positive momentum Solutia is gaining as it heads toward emergence from Chapter 11, which we anticipate later this year," says Jim Sullivan, Solutia CFO.

Akzo Nobel says it will relocate production of decorative paints at Sant Adriá de Besós, near Barcelona, to another site in the Barcelona metropolitan area. Akzo says it has short-listed possible locations for the new plant, which will house all production, logistics, and warehousing operations for the company's decorative coatings business in Spain. Akzo has agreed to sell its Sant Adriá de Besós site to real estate developer Urbis (Madrid) for an undisclosed amount, and will continue to use the site for up to four years while it builds the new plant.

Yule Catto (Harlow, U.K.) has named Adrian Whitfield as its next CEO. He will succeed Alex Walker, who is due to retire next August. Whitfield joined the Yule Catto board at the start of this month, having previously been CEO of the plastics division of DS Smith (London).

The Brunei Investment Agency (BIA; Bandar Seri Begawan), a state-owned body, says it has purchased a 37% stake in Jordan Phosphate Mines Co. (JPMC; Amman) from the Jordanian government for $112 million. BIA outbid several companies, including Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, to buy the stake, reports say. The deal cuts the government's stake in JPMC to 25.6%.

Tata Chemicals (Mumbai) says it has increased its stake in soda ash producer Brunner Mond (Northwich, U.K.) from 63.5%, to 100%, by buying shares for about $65 million. Tata bought the 63.5% stake late last year from two shareholders (CW, Jan. 4/11, p. 5).

Hindustan Petroleum (Mumbai) and Sinopec say they have signed a preliminary agreement to jointly pursue projects in China, India, and elsewhere. The companies say that the agreement covers petrochemicals, as well as consulting, exploration and production, refining, and trading. Further details were not disclosed.

An explosion and fire ripped through the Penang, Malaysia plant of Fatty Chemical Malaysia (FCM) on February 28, killing three contract workers. FCM is an oleochemicals joint venture between Kao (Tokyo) and IOI Group (Putrajaya, Malaysia). The blast occurred in a methanol recovery tank, Kao says. The causes of the accident are not known, it adds. The plant had been shut down for maintenance since February 18, FCM says. Separately, Kao says it has opened an R&D center in Shanghai. The company says it has 16 other R&D bases split among Asean, Europe, and Japan.

Kim Bahn Suk officially took up the post of CEO at LG Chem on March 9. Kim's appointment was announced earlier this year (CW, Jan. 4/11, p. 5). He replaces Ki Ho No, who is staying on at LG Chem as executive adviser.