The research chemical industry is largely one of two extremes On one end is the 800-lb gorilla created in 2015 when Merck KGaA acquired Sigma-Aldrich On the other end are the many small specialists that dot the scene Arnaugh Verhaeghe sees opportunity in between Verhaeghe is general manager of Honeywell Research Chemicals a midsized lab chemicals business that Honeywell created late last year by combining a small business it owned with one it acquired there’s room in the middle for an ambitious company that wants to get bigger Honeywell Research Chemicals owes its existence to Merck’s acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich When Merck announced the $17 billion purchase in September 2014 both it and Sigma-Aldrich were already large research chemical suppliers Regulators in Europe reviewed the deal and decided that the resulting firm would command too large a position in certain high-purity inorganic chemicals and solvents ACS’s Basic Package keeps you connected with C&EN and ACS $80 Regular Members & Society Affiliates ACS’s Standard Package lets you stay up to date with C&EN ACS’s Premium Package gives you full access to C&EN and everything the ACS Community has to offer Honeywell Research Chemicals owes its existence to Merck’s acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich. When Merck announced the $17 billion purchase in September 2014 the European Commission concluded that Merck and Sigma-Aldrich were essentially the only players in the high end of the market EC investigators talked to research chemical buyers who said they were willing to pay a premium of as much as 40% for chemicals from the two companies because of the quality and reliability they provide Documents the two firms submitted to investigators indicated that their combined European market share would be up to 40% in solvents and as high as 50% in certain inorganic chemicals Customers had particular concerns about the combined firm’s dominance in salts The EC decided that Sigma-Aldrich had to sell most of its European inorganics and solvents business before it would allow the deal to go through. A number of companies expressed interest in the business, but the EC liked Honeywell’s offer the best. In October 2015, Honeywell announced that it would acquire the business for about $120 million What the EC learned in its investigation was that Honeywell’s plant in Seelze was already intertwined with the business the EC wanted Sigma-Aldrich to divest The Seelze plant was part of Honeywell’s Riedel-de Haën unit a bulk inorganic chemical producer Honeywell acquired in 1995 Sigma-Aldrich later bought the portion of Riedel-de Haën that packages chemicals for the laboratory market but Honeywell continued to supply Sigma-Aldrich the necessary bulk starting materials Reuniting the packaged products business with its bulk chemical source made perfect sense to the EC the EC saw Honeywell as an international company with the heft to be a robust competitor in lab chemicals The firm was already in the business through ownership of Burdick & Jackson Merck completed its acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich in November 2015 and the business sale to Honeywell wrapped up in the middle of the following month Honeywell had exactly one year to integrate the inorganics and solvents business and strike out on its own he had spent several years as Sigma-Aldrich’s director of sales for Europe the EC made him responsible for running the inorganics and solvents business as if it were separate from Sigma-Aldrich he joined the company and was put in charge of the integration Integrating the manufacturing side of the business was straightforward because the Sigma-Aldrich packaging operations were already on the Seelze site and doing business with Honeywell The hard part was creating a new infrastructure to take orders for thousands of small-volume lab chemicals and ship them to buyers in Europe and beyond Customers had come to count on Sigma-Aldrich’s vaunted e-commerce platform which allowed them to purchase chemicals online and receive them at their doorsteps “Honeywell was not an expert at this to start with,” Verhaeghe acknowledges Honeywell hired the firm that had developed Burdick & Jackson’s website Honeywell staffed customer service centers in Shanghai; Bucharest Romania; and Mexico City with people dedicated to the research chemicals business And it contracted with specialized logistics companies to store Honeywell lab chemicals in warehouses around the world Merck stopped servicing Honeywell customers orders started flooding into the Honeywell service centers—more orders than Honeywell had expected but they were able to catch up when business slowed during the end-of-year holidays Honeywell Research Chemicals now has a line of about 10,000 products sold mainly under the Burdick & Jackson Although Verhaeghe won’t disclose sales figures he says Honeywell’s research chemicals business is more than five times as large as it was before Verhaeghe sees untapped potential in Honeywell’s position as one of a handful of global lab chemical suppliers that manufactures its own products Many players distribute products made by others Honeywell has full control over quality and the supply chain It can customize reagents and continue to supply customers with larger quantities if customers’ products move out of the lab and into the marketplace Having watched Merck’s purchase of Sigma-Aldrich consolidate the market lab chemical buyers are happy that there’s a new player with the size and stature of Honeywell “The concentration of actors is reducing significantly the capabilities of procurement people in many companies,” he says She runs a lab supplies storeroom and handles other purchases for the school of chemical sciences at the University of Illinois one of the largest chemistry-related academic institutions in the U.S she was able to negotiate certain price breaks Shipments would arrive two days after an order was placed and shipments can take an extra day to arrive Merck responds that survey feedback from more than 10,000 legacy Sigma-Aldrich customers in the U.S indicates that performance levels have not dropped The company says it continues to ensure 24-hour delivery of the majority of its products and that it continues to offer competitive pricing “We take the feedback from our customers very seriously,” it says Honeywell is happy to have become a prominent player in the lab chemicals market is what the EC sought when it chose Honeywell “They meant to create a true competitor,” he says “We are going to be a true competitor of the Merck-Sigma-Aldrich combination.” After spending the past year creating a web-enabled business that ships packages to customers overnight Verhaeghe has gained a lot of respect for Amazon Honeywell Research Chemicals might one day become a broader supplier of consumables “When it comes to being the Amazon of chemical consumables this is not where we are today,” Verhaeghe says We have the capability and financial strength to be a major player at the table.”  Sign up for C&EN's must-read weekly newsletter This article has been sent to the following recipient: Copyright © 2025 American Chemical Society Honeywell said today it will acquire the laboratory research chemicals business of Sigma-Aldrich for about €105 million ($119.3 million) the business develops and manufactures high-purity inorganic chemicals and solvents among research chemicals and other materials used in new drug discovery Sigma-Aldrich said in a statement that the sale was intended to fulfill commitments it made to the European Union in order to receive final approval for the $17 billion planned acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich by Merck KGaA Honeywell said the deal will allow it to offer customers a more complete product line by building on its existing portfolio of Burdick & Jackson® high-purity solvents and reagents The deal gives Honeywell solvents and inorganics marketed under the Sigma-Aldrich brand; as well as three global chemical brands with applications that include drug synthesis as well as food “The acquisition will enable Honeywell to offer a broader line of inorganic chemicals and solvents for demanding applications ranging from pharmaceutical drug discovery to medical diagnostic testing,” Darius Adamczyk president and CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies includes among its units Honeywell Fine Chemicals into which the acquired business will be integrated Honeywell Fine Chemicals has supplied research chemicals and specialty organic and inorganic compounds to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries The business maintains laboratories and/or production facilities in Seelze and Muskegon Honeywell Fine Chemicals sells its products under the Burdick & Jackson and Riedel-de Haen brands consumer and industrial applications that include drug discovery as well as toothpaste “The combination of Honeywell's manufacturing expertise with the strength of an expanded solvents and inorganics portfolio will enable us to better serve all of our customers in research chemicals,” Adamczyk added The acquisition agreement is subject to regulatory review and other customary closing conditions Sigma-Aldrich said Merck KGaA will submit the Honeywell agreement to the European Commission which needs to approve the transaction in order for the acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich to be completed The European Commission provided conditional approval of the mega-deal on June 15 more than 12 months after the acquisition was first announced Sigma-Aldrich said a closing of its acquisition by Merck KGaA “is now expected within the next two months,” by the end of November Copyright © 2025 Sage Publications or its affiliates including those for text and data mining and training of large language models Show Breaking News BarCloseWorldAssociated Press Full Screen1 / 16Previous photoNext photoA German police officer walks with a search dog during an investigating at an allotment garden plot in Seelze Police have begun searching an allotment garden plot believed to be in connection with the disappearance of missing British girl Madeleine McCann in Portugal in 2007 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)Germany police officers search an allotment garden plot in Seelze believed to be in connection with the 2007 Portugal disappearance of missing British girl Madeleine McCann (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)Germany police secures a fence where officers search an allotment garden plot in Seelze (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)Germany police radio car parks near an allotment garden plot where police investigates in Seelze (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)A search dog during an investigation at an allotment garden plot in Seelze (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)A police tent during the investigation at an allotment garden plot in Seelze (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)German police officers walk along a canal during an investigation at an allotment garden plot in Seelze (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)German police officers attend the scene of a search at an allotment garden plot in Seelze (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)Germany police vehicles parked during a search at an allotment garden plot in Seelze (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)Copyright 2020 The Associated Press A German police officer walks with a search dog during an investigating at an allotment garden plot in Seelze HANNOVER – German police investigating the 2007 disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann in Portugal were searching a garden plot Wednesday on the outskirts of Hannover investigators put up two tents and continued to dig even further into the ground after they had cut down trees and bushes earlier this week Prosecutors did not say what the investigators were looking for A spokeswoman for the Braunschweig prosecutor's office only said Wednesday she could not comment further than that the activities on the site were connected to their investigation regarding Madeleine It was also not clear how much longer investigators would search the plot Madeleine was 3 at the time of her 2007 disappearance from an apartment while her family vacationed in the seaside town of Praia da Luz in Portugal’s Algarve region German authorities said last month they had identified a 43-year-old German citizen as a suspect in the case and are investigating him on suspicion of murder including in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's disappearance and has two previous convictions for “sexual contact with girls,” authorities have said Authorities have not released the suspect’s name but he has been widely identified by German media as Christian B He was last registered living in Germany in the city of Braunschweig which is about 70 kilometers (40 miles) from Hannover the suspect spent time in both Portugal and Germany He ran a kiosk in Braunschweig and also lived in Hannover for several years investigators even removed parts of the foundation of a former cabin from the ground that once stood there A man on a neighboring plot told the news agency that the garden where blackberry bushes and a cheery tree grow rewritten or redistributed without permission TV Listings Email Newsletters RSS Feeds Closed 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Honeywell have announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Seelze Germany-based laboratory research chemicals business from Sigma-Aldrich broadening Honeywell’s offerings for high-purity solutions for drug discovery medical diagnostic testing and other laboratory applications The acquisition includes the Fluka-branded solvents and inorganic chemistry portfolio worldwide and the Sigma-Aldrich-branded solvents and inorganic chemistry portfolio in the European Economic Area (EEA) Those offerings are now part of Honeywell’s broader portfolio of offerings for research chemicals which already includes the Riedel-de Haën® and Burdick & Jackson® brands “The combined Honeywell business will be able to serve a broader range of customers and applications with global brands recognised for world-class quality and lot-to-lot consistency – essential for a range of applications including drug synthesis chemical and forensic testing,” said Qamar Bhatia President of Honeywell’s Specialty Products business “To make the transition process as seamless as possible customers will still order products directly through Sigma-Aldrich and receive the same level of dedicated customer technical and logistical support as they always have.” The Honeywell portfolio now includes six product lines: Fluka® chemicals and reagents used for biochemical research and other chemical and pharmaceutical applications; Hydranal® Karl Fischer titration reagents used by laboratories to measure moisture content in liquids and solids; Chromasolv® high-purity solvents for chromatography a technique used to separate and analyse complex mixtures; Riedel-de Haën® high-quality research chemicals used in pharmaceutical production and bioscience; Burdick & Jackson® high-purity solvents reagents and chromatography products for laboratories and pharmaceutical production; Sigma-Aldrich® solvents and inorganics sold into the European Economic Area The acquired business employs approximately 200 people with sales and marketing personnel throughout Europe which manufactures Riedel-de Haën-branded products currently makes the majority of the products in the acquired business The acquired business will be integrated into Honeywell’s Fine Chemicals business and will continue to be led by the core leadership team of the acquired company the combined business unit will be able to develop and manufacture high-purity research chemicals and other materials used in new drug discovery Honeywell builds on an already strong portfolio of Burdick & Jackson and Riedel-de Haën products Honeywell’s Fine Chemicals business has supplied high-quality research chemicals and specialty organic and inorganic compounds to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries for more than 100 years Its products are sold under the Burdick & Jackson and Riedel-de Haën brands consumer and industrial applications including drug discovery Honeywell Fine Chemicals is a part of the Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies business group The Molnár-Institute for Applied Chromatography is excited to announce the launch of a new version of its groundbreaking DryLab® Automation Module The SOLVFIL X™ from Microsolv is a ready-to-use disposable vacuum filtration device designed for glass bottles with a 45 mm neck diameter SETAC Europe ISHM 2025 London Lab Live 2025 Euromedlab 2025 InformEx Zone at CPhl North America Berlin – German police investigating the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann in Portugal in 2007 searched a garden plot Tuesday in the northern city of Hannover in connection with their probe a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig confirmed local media reports that police investigators had been at the site since Monday with an excavator in connection with the case “The procedure is taking place in connection with our investigation regarding Maddie McCann,” she told The Associated Press Meyer said she could not give any further details on the procedure adding only that police would “still need some more time to finish.” McCann was 3 at the time of her 2007 disappearance from an apartment while her family vacationed in the seaside town of Praia da Luz in Portugal’s Algarve region German authorities said last month they had identified a 43-year-old German citizen as a suspect in the McCann case and are investigating him on suspicion of murder including in Praia da Luz around the time of McCann’s disappearance and has two previous convictions for “sexual contact with girls,” authorities have said Authorities have not released the suspect’s name The word sustainability is in everybody’s mouths these days and retreading plays an important role here when it comes to tyres But although fitting nicely with the zeitgeist retreading has been around for quite some time has been in the business for more than 120 years The origins of Continental’s tyre retreading activities can be found in its hometown of Hannover The company began retreading tyres at is Hannover-Vahrenwald plant “more than 120 years ago” and in 1903 it acquired a factory building in nearby Seelze and set up a plant on the site for processing and recycling old rubber The plant typically processed nine to 13 tonnes of used rubber daily Continental retreads more than one million truck and bus tyres worldwide every year According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental retreaded tyres reduce CO2 emissions by up to 50 percent compared to new tyres The amount of recycled and renewable materials in retreaded tyres can be up to 85 per cent Continental says its retreaded tyres are “every bit a match” for new tyres “We have been a pioneer in retreading truck and bus tyres for more than 120 years,” comments Jorge Almeida head of Sustainability at Continental Tires “Our tyre retreading saves raw materials and costs – a real win-win situation for fleet operators and the environment.” Drawing information from industry reports and studies of tyre manufacturing practices 70 per cent of all truck and bus tyres are retreadable Continental’s retreading activities include both hot/mould cure retreading in which the casing is restored from bead to bead in a hot vulcanisation process which involves applying a pre-vulcanised tread material to a buffed casing Once again 70 per cent is the magic number as Continental says both the mould cure and pre-cure procedures enable reuse of approximately that percentage of the original tyre Retreading also requires up to 70 per cent less energy compared to the production of a new tyre the Hannover-Stöcken plant has retreaded around 900,000 truck and bus tyres (Photo: Continental) More than 120 years after retreading its first tyre, Continental still retreads in Hannover. It established a new ContiLifeCycle facility combining a retreading and recycling plant With an integrated approach consisting of mould cure retreading for truck and bus tyres as well as a rubber recycling system developed specifically for the ContiLifeCycle plant the company has been actively promoting the sustainable use of raw materials the Hannover-Stöcken plant has given around 900,000 truck and bus tyres an extended service life through retreading If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Germany’s Merck KGaA has won the European Commission’s approval for its planned takeover of US life science company Sigma-Aldrich The EU green light follows prior antitrust clearance in the US Merck and Sigma-Aldrich have agreed to sell all of the US company’s solvents and inorganics business in Europe The divestments will include assets in Seelze where most of the relevant products are manufactured Additional divestments are to include solvents and inorganics sold by Sigma-Aldrich worldwide under the Fluka, Riedel-de-Haen and Hydranal brands, along with a temporary license to sell the products in the European Economic Area (EEA) Related compliance conditions include the transfer of customer information and a solution to ensure a temporary channel to sell the products In view of the EU’s attached strings Merck said it will work toward a mid-2015 completion of the transaction Other hurdles to be taken before the deal can close are the approval of the Brazilian competition authority as well as the Israeli regulatory body IAA and the Korean antitrust agency “We will work with all related parties in the coming months to swiftly implement the commitments that have been agreed with the EU,” said Merck executive board member Bernd Reckmann The deal announced in September of last year foresees the Darmstadt-based chemicals and pharmaceuticals producer paying $17 billion for Sigma-Aldrich to establish what it said will be one of the leading players in the $130 billion global life science industry Merck said buying Sigma-Aldrich is “a key element” in its Fit for 2018 transformation program aimed at strengthening its three growth platforms of healthcare The addition of the Sigma-Aldrich portfolio to the products and capabilities of Merck’s US subsidiary Merck Millipore will give the expanded group a complementary range of products across laboratory chemicals the US company will extend Merck Millipore’s value chain of drug production and validation CHEManager Innovation Pitch supports innovation in the chemistry and life sciences start-up scene and start-ups to present their companies to the industry Are you ready to elevate your pharmaceutical operations Download our exclusive whitepaper and discover how compliance with Good Distribution Practice (GDP) is essential for the safety and integrity of pharmaceuticals The requested content cannot be loaded.Please try again later Germany (Reuters) – Police excavated an allotment near the German city of Hanover in search of clues in a case that prosecutors said was linked to the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann who vanished from a holiday home in Portugal 13 years ago is an hour’s drive from the town of Braunschweig whom prosecutors last month named as their main suspect in the 3-year-old’s presumed murder “I can confirm that the search is linked to our investigations in the Maddie McCann case,” said Julia Meyer a spokeswoman for Braunschweig prosecutors Reuters footage showed police and an excavator on the allotment on Tuesday morning The premises were sealed off from public view with plastic sheeting from her bedroom in a rented holiday home in the Algarve sparked one of Europe’s biggest international investigations prosecutors announced they had phone evidence linking B. a rapist with convictions for abusing children police have not released the suspect’s surname and media in Germany are not permitted to report it although it has appeared in some British outlets Earlier searches in the case have focused on an abandoned industrial site in eastern Germany that was owned by B. who is currently serving a prison sentence for drug dealing Prosecutors are also investigating whether B might be connected to the disappearance of at least one other young child in Germany Powered by PageSuite