ECN's annual listing sets out all the take-overs, spin-offs, mergers and initial public offerings in the chemical sector as reported in the magazine over the past 12 months in 2003..
| Company buying/acquired | Location | Business | Stake | Cost |
| 3i/La Chemial | UK/Italy | speciality chemicals | 80% | |
| Actelion/Axovan | Switzerland/Switzerland | biopharmaceuticals research | acq | $187m |
| Aerosil & Silanes/Novara Technology | Germany/Italy | fumed silica | 50% to 100% | |
| Air Liquide/BOC (Japan Air Gases) | France/UK | Japanese gas businesses | 55:45 jv | |
| Akzo Nobel/Interpon Powder Coatings (Korea) | Netherlands/South Korea | powder coatings | 50% to 100% | |
| Akzo Nobel/Techni-Coat International | Netherlands/Belgium | speciality plastics coatings | acq | <?10m |
| Albemarle/Atofina | US/France | bromochemicals | acq | |
| Alcan/VAW | Canada/Norway | Norsk Hydro sells flexible packaging business | acq | |
| Alkor Draka/Pannon Aldra | Hungary/Hungary | Pannonplast sells stake in PVC film joint venture | 50% | |
| Alkyl Amines Chemicals/Goldschmidt | India/Germany | amines | 50% to 100% | $1 |
| Altana/DiaSorin | Germany/Italy | in-vitro diagnostics | acq | |
| Arnaud/Champoiseau | France/France | distribution of surface metal treatment products | acq | |
| Atofina/China Offshore Oil | France/China | polystyrene plant in Sanshui, Guangdong, China | acq Sanshui Chemical Industry | |
| Atofina/Samsung General Chemicals | France/South Korea | petrochemicals venture in South Korea | 50:50 jv | $1.55bn(Samsung Atofina) |
| Aurora Holding/BorsodChem | Austria/Hungary | Milford Holdings sells stake | 29% | |
| Avantium Pharma/Crystallics | Netherlands/Netherlands | Avantium Technologies merges life sciences units | merger | (Avantium Life Sciences) |
| Avecia/Synthon Chiragenics | UK/US | chiral technology | acq | |
| Axcan/Aventis | Canada/France | three gastrointestinal products | acq | $145m |
| Azelis/Kraemer & Martin | Italy/Germany | distribution | acq | |
| Basell/Al-Zamil | Germany/Saudi Arabia | polypropylene project in Saudi Arabia | jv | |
| BASF/Callery Chemical | Germany/US | Mine Safety Appliances sells inorganic chemicals portfolio | acq | $65m |
| BASF/ExxonMobil | Germany/US | Vistanex LM polyisobutylenes business | acq | |
| BASF/Honeywell | Germany/US | nylon-based engineering plastics | acq | $170m |
| BASF/Sunoco | Germany/US | plasticiser operations | acq | |
| Bayer/Bufa Beteiligungen | Germany/Germany | polyurethane systems house in Oldenburg, Germany | 50:50 jv | |
| Bayer/Makroform | Germany/Germany | polymers joint venture with Rohm | 45.5% to 100% | |
| BioFund Management/Verdera | Finland/Finland | Kemira Agro sells stake in biological pesticide business | 20% | |
| Biovian/Biotie Therapies | Finland/Finland | process development and production unit | acq | |
| BOC/Air Products and Chemicals | UK/US | majority of Canadian packaged gas business | acq | $41m |
| BP/Arco Polypropylene | UK/US | BP buys partner Itochu's stake in polypropylene joint venture | 15% to 100% | |
| Brenntag/Biesterfeld | Germany/Germany | industrial chemicals distribution | 50:50 jv | (Biesterfeld Chemie distribution) |
| Brenntag/Droqsa | Gemany/Spain | chemicals distribution | acq | |
| British Biotech/RiboTargets | UK/UK | drug discovery | merger | |
| British Biotech/Vernalis (Vernalis) | UK/UK | biotechnology | merger | |
| British Vita/Crown General | UK/Belgium | polyolefin sheet extrusion | acq | |
| British Vita/Polytex | UK/France | thermoplastic elastomer compounding | acq | ?0.7m |
| British Vita/Synco | UK/Italy | Cognis sells colour and additive masterbatch producer | acq | ?2m |
| Cambridge Antibody Technology/ | UK/UK | biotechnology | acq | $177mOxford GlycoSciences |
| CapMan/Noiro | Finland/Finland | Orion's cosmetics unit | acq | ?100m |
| CE Oil & Gas/BorsodChem | Austria/Hungary | Forras sells stake | 4%to 92.29% | $11.8m |
| Chemical Technologies/Yorkshire Group | US/UK | auxiliary chemicals for dyes | acq | $1.4m |
| ChemTrade Logistics/Clariant | Canada/Germany | North American sodium hydrosulphite business | acq | $62m |
| Chiron/PowderJect Pharmaceuticals | US/UK | vaccines | acq | $878m |
| Ciba Specialty Chemicals/Sun Chemical | Switzerland/US | perylene organic pigments | acq | |
| Close Brothers Private Equity/Fosroc Mining | UK/UK | BP's speciality mining chemicals unit | acq | $52m |
| Cognis/Laporte Performance Chemicals | Germany/UK | Degussa sells operations in Hythe and Barry, UK | acq | |
| Colortech/Eastman Chemical | Germany/US | polyethylene colour concentrates | acq | |
| Consortium/Chimcomplex Borzesti | Romania/Romania | Romanian state sells stake in inorganic chemicals producer | 94.75% | ?25.03m |
| Contactoare Buzau/Moldosin Vaslui | Romania/Romania | state sells stake in polyester yarns and derivatives | acq | ?1.6m |
| Credit Lyonnais/Rhodia | France/France | Aventis cuts stake to 15% | 10% | |
| Crompton/Basell | US/Germany | Interloy business assets and non-exclusive global rights | to Basell's Hivalloy technology | |
| Cytec Industries/Avecia | US/UK | metal extraction products, and intermediates and stabilisers businesses | acq | $97m |
| Degussa/Ausimont | Germany/Italy | persalts and hydrogen peroxide businesses in Bussi, Italy | acq | |
| Degussa/Midwest Lysine | Germany/US | l-lysine | 50% to 100% | |
| Degussa/Schwenk Zement | Germany/Germany | construction chemicals | acq | |
| Degussa/Shionogi | Germany/Japan | precipitated silica, silica gel and matting agents in Japan | 51:49 jv | |
| Deutsche Beteiligungs and Harvest Partners/ | Germany and US/Netherlands | impregnated papers and foils business | acq | ?114m Casco Impregnated Papers |
| DiasSys Diagnostic/Merck KgaA | Germany/Germany | clinical chemistry | acq | |
| Dor Chemicals/ Trespaphan/Moplefan/ |
Israel/Germany/ Belgium/Australia |
polypropylene films | merger | Shorko Australia (Treofan Films) |
| Dow Chemical/Celanese | US/Germany | US acrylates activities | acq | |
| DSM/Chiralix | Netherlands/Netherlands | drug development | 25% | |
| DSM/National Starch & Chemical | Netherlands/UK | Plasticoat food coating business | acq | |
| Dunedin Capital Partners/Hickson & Welch | UK/UK | organic chemicals | acq | $34m |
| Edison/BP/Solvay | Italy/UK/Belgium | construction of LNG terminal and expansion of ethylene terminal in Rosignano, Italy | jv | |
| Eka Chemicals/Celulosa Arauco y Constitucion (Eka Chile) | Sweden/Chile | construction of chlorate plant in Chile | jv | |
| Electra/Azelis | UK/Italy | distribution | 57% | ?45m |
| Estech/ExxonMobil | Germany/US | synthetic polyol ester-based refrigeration lubricants | acq | |
| Francisco Moreno/Poliseda | Spain/Spain | Radici sells Spanish fibres producer | acq | |
| Frutarom/Emil Flachsmann | Israel/Switzerland | food and pharmaceutical ingredients | acq | |
| Frutarom/Rayner | Israel/UK | industrial flavours and fragrances | acq | $2m |
| Galen Holdings/Pfizer | UK/US | oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy | acq | $359m |
| Genencor International/Rhodia | US/France | brewing and enzyme business | acq | $9.4m |
| General Electric/Amersham | US/UK | diagnostic imaging and life sciences | acq | |
| Genzyme/Cambridge Antibody Technology | US/UK | biotechnology | 11% | $37.3m |
| Givaudan/International Bioflavors | Switzerland/US | savoury flavours | acq | $21m |
| Grace Bauprodukte/Tricosal Beton-Chemie | Germany/Germany | speciality chemicals | acq | |
| Gurit-Heberlein/Wetzel | Switzerland/Germany | fibre technology | acq | |
| H&R Wasag/BP | Germany/UK | special products | acq | |
| Hankkija-Maatalous/Movere | Norway/Finland | agricultural logistics | 33.30% | |
| Henkel/Collano | Germany/Switzerland | hotmelt activities used in hygiene products | acq | |
| Honeywell/BASF | US/Germany | US and China nylon fibres activities | acq | |
| Hoyer/Abram De Haan | Germany/Netherlands | distribution | acq | |
| Hoyer/Shanghai JY | Germany/China | transport of hazardous cargo | jv(Shanghai Hoyer Sinobulk Transport) | |
| Huntsman/ICI | US/UK | petrochemicals | 30% | $315m |
| Hydro Agri/Kaltenbach-Thuring | Norway/France | process technology | acq | |
| Hydro Polymers/Polymer Trading | UK/France | buys out partner in PVC sales venture | to 100% | |
| Hydro Polymers/PolyOne | UK/US | European Easy Flow vinyl compounding business | acq | |
| Inabata & partners/ Nitrocellulose and Energetic Technologies |
Japan/UK | nitrocellulose | acq | |
| Industrie Generali/ Hekmataneh Industries Petrochemical/National Petrochemical |
Italy/Iran/Iran | PVC project in Hamedan, Iran | 10:57:33 jv | |
| Ineos/Methanova | Belgium/Germany | Degussa sells methanol derivatives business | acq | |
| Investors/Thermphos | Kazakhstan/Netherlands | phosphorus chemicals | acq | |
| Iosif Ioan/Bicapa Tarnaveni | Romania/Romania | APAPS sells stake in chemicals producer | 96% | ?7.8m |
| Jarvis Porter/European Colour | UK/UK | printing | <30% | |
| JGP Perrite/BASF | UK/Germany | Ronfalin trademark for ABS | acq | |
| John T Essberger/Vopak | Germany/Netherlands | chemical tanker fleet | acq | ?100-110m |
| Kanesho Soil Treatment/BASF | Belgium/Germany | soil treatment | acq | ?65m |
| Kao Corp/Cognis | Japan/Germany | aroma chemicals and fragrance compounds | acq | ?36m |
| Kemira Kemi/Anox | Sweden/Sweden | development and marketing of complete biochemical water treatment solutions | jv | |
| Kemira/Kemiron | Finland/US | water treatment chemicals | 45% to 60% | |
| Kemira/Kemwater (Yixing) | Finland/China | water treatment chemicals | to 100% | |
| Kemira/Klebstoffwerke Collodin | Finland/Germany | pulp and paper chemicals | acq | |
| Kemira/Rhodia | Finland/France | industrial additives | acq | |
| Kemira/Vulcan Materials | Finland/US | pulp and paper chemicals | acq | $43.5m |
| Kömmerling/Chemetall | Germany/Germany | glass sealants and casting resins | acq | |
| Linde/Sonatrach (Helison Production) | Germany/Algeria | construction and operation of a helium plant in Algeria | jv | |
| LTB Textil Group/Corapet Corabia | Romania/Romania | APAPS sells stake in polyester fibres manufacturer | 80.30% | ?2.06m |
| Lukoil/Technip-Coflexip | Russia/France | projects in Russia and the CIS | 50:50 jv | |
| LycoRed Natural Products/Nutriblend | Israel/UK | Merck sells nutritional supplements business | acq | |
| Makhteshim-Agan/Bayer CropScience | Israel/Germany | crop protection products | acq | $52.7m |
| Makhteshim-Agan/Firmenich (InnovAroma) | Israel/Switzerland | development, manufacture and distribution of fragrance materials to cosmetics, detergents, food and drink industries | jv | |
| Matlin-Patterson/Vantico | US/Switzerland | epoxy resins | acq(Huntsman Advanced Materials) | |
| MBO/PKN Orlen | Poland/Poland | three maintenance and service subsidiaries | acq | |
| Messer Griesheim/Sauerstoffwerk Lenzburg | Germany/Germany | industrial gases | 49.5% to 100% | |
| MetaGen/Astex Technology | Germany/UK | biotechnology | merger | |
| M-I/Dynea International | US/Finland | oilfield chemicals | acq | ?76m |
| MOL/INA | Hungary/Croatia | oil and gas | 25% | $505m |
| Nanaa Hasan/Terom Iasi | Romania/Romania | APAPS sells stake in polymer and polyester fibres manufacturer | 94.60% | $5.71m |
| NIB Capital Private Equity/UCB | Netherlands/Belgium | methylamines and derivatives | acq | |
| Nippon Gohsei/British Traders | Japan/UK | distribution of Nippon Gohsei products in Europe and the UK | to 100% | |
| Nordic Storage/Statoil | Sweden/Norway | tank terminal in Sweden | acq | |
| Novartis/Pfizer | Switzerland/US | incontinence drug Enablex | acq | |
| Odfjell/Korea Petrochemical Industry | Norway/Korea | chemical tank terminal in Onsan, South Korea | 50% | |
| One Equity Partners/LBC Group | US/France | bulk liquid storage | acq | |
| Owens Corning/Saint-Gobain | US/France | construction of glass fibre composite plant | jv | |
| PCS XXI Inversiones Bursatiles/La Seda de Barcelona | Spain/Spain | polyethylene terephthalate | 13.70% | $8.8m |
| Pergo/Witex | Sweden/Germany | flooring | 74.9% to100% | ?27.5m |
| Perstorp/Hansol Chemience (Hansol Perstorp) | Sweden/South Korea | trimethylolpropane | 51:49 jv | |
| Perstorp/Koei (Koei-Perstorp) | Sweden/Japan | polyols sales and distribution | 40:60 jv | |
| PKN Orlen/Energo | Poland/Poland | energy installations subsidiary | 25% | $26 000 |
| Plexiglas/Unichem/ZAO Orgsteklo JSC | Germany/Russia/Russia | production of polymethyl methacrylate in Russia | jv | |
| PQ Europe/Rhodia | Netherlands/France | silicates business in Italy | acq | |
| Procter & Gamble/Wella | US/Germany | cosmetics and fragrances | acq | ?3.2bn |
| Quaker Chemical/KS Chemie | US/Germany | cleaners/wet temper fluids and products used in the steel industry | acq | |
| Quimigal/Elnosa | Portugal/Spain | Ence sells stake in chemicals unit | 50% to 100% | |
| Red Mountain/LII Europe | US/Germany | LaRoche Industries sells chlor-akali subsidiary | acq | |
| Reederei Jaegers/Chemgas | Germany/Netherlands | Vopak's gas shipping activities | acq | |
| Reilly Industries/Degussa | US/Germany | vitamin B3 business | acq | |
| Repsol YPF/Syntroleum | Spain/US | Gas-to-liquids projects in Bolivia | jv | |
| Rhodia/Albemarle | France/US | phosphorus-based polyurethane flame retardants | acq | |
| Roche/Igen International | Switzerland/US | biopharmaceuticals | acq | $1.4bn |
| Sabic and Süd-Chemie/Scientific Design | Saudi Arabia/Germany/US | Linde sells process technology company | acq | |
| Sabic EuroPetrochemicals/StaMax | Netherlands/Belgium | Owens Corning sells share in PP composite company | 50% to 100% | |
| Saratoga Partners/Sericol | US/UK | BP sells speciality printing inks business | acq | $119m |
| Sasol Polymers Germany/National Petrochemical | Germany/Iran | construction and operation of the 9th olefin complex in Assaluyeh, Iran | 50:50 jv | |
| Schenker/Beijing International Technology | Germany/China | logistics | 70:30 jv | Cooperation Centre (Schenker BITCC Logistics) |
| Schumann Sasol/Dynea Moers | Germany/Germany | Dynea sells paraffin emulsions subsidiary | acq | |
| SembCorp Utilities/Enron Teesside Operations | Singapore/UK | utilities | acq | $131m |
| Shell/Qatar Petroleum | UK/Qatar | gas-to-liquids projectin Ras Laffan, Qatar | jv | |
| Shin-Etsu Chemical/Clariant | Japan/Germany | cellulose ethers | acq | ?241m |
| Siegfried/Alpha Bioverfahrenstechnik | Switzerland/Germany | biotechnology | 75% | |
| Siena Investments/Chemicals | Netherlands/UK | Royal Vopak sells stake in tank storage company and Oil Storage Management | 50% | |
| SigmaKalon/Samsung Fine Chemicals | Netherlands/South Korea | coatings | 60:40 jv | |
| Sika/Tivoli Klebstoffe | Switzerland/Germany | adhesives | 49% to 100% | $45m |
| Solvay/Nikos (Soligran) | Belgium/Russia | polyvinyl chloride compounds | 50:50 jv | |
| Solvin Italy/GRP | Italy/Switzerland | PVC transportation from northern Europe to Italy | jv | (Solvin Italia Railway Intermodal Operations) |
| Soros Private Equity Partners/PolymerLatex | US/Germany | latex products | acq | ?235m |
| Stepan/Pentagon Chemical Specialties | US/UK | detergent and cleaning biocide product lines | acq | |
| Süd-Chemie/Liaoning Redhill Volclay | Germany/China | bentonite processing | acq | |
| Syngenta/Diversa | Switzerland/US | drug development | 12.6% to >18% | |
| Tchibo and consortium/Beiersdorf | Germany/Germany | personal care products | 40% | ?4.4bn |
| Teekay Shipping/Navion | Canada/Norway | Statoil sells shipping business | acq | $800m |
| Tender Timisoara/Carom Onesti | Romania/Romania | APAPS sells stake in synthetic rubber manufacture | 51% | |
| Teva/Sicor | Israel/US | generic drugs | acq | $3.4bn |
| Trelleborg/Smiths Group | Sweden/UK | polymer sealing solutions | $807m | |
| UCB/Solutia | Belgium/US | resins, additives and adhesives | acq | $500m |
| Uhde/Chemgineering | Germany/Switzerland | technology consulting and engineering services | stake | |
| Umicore/OMG | Belgium/US | precious metals | acq | $752m |
| Undisclosed/Chemgas | Unknown/Netherlands | Vopak's gas shipping activities | acq | |
| Unipex/Interchemical and Chimiray | France/France | two distribution companies | acq | |
| Uralita/Aragonesas | Spain/Spain | chemicals | 11.3% to 100% | |
| US Amines/Celanese Chemicals | US/Germany | global allylamines and US alkylamines businesses | acq | |
| VCP Industrie Beteiligungen/MOL | Austria/Hungary | petrochemicals | 2.82% | |
| Vektra M/Zupa | Serbia/Serbia | production of sulphate, pesticides and potassium | 70% | |
| Vopak/Dow Chemical | Netherlands/US | tank terminal in California, US | acq | |
| Vopak/HCI/Brenntag | Netherlands/South America | terminals in Venezuela and Colombia | acq | |
| Vopak/Sepressa | Netherlands/Ecuador | HCI/Brenntag's share in terminal | 50% | |
| Wihuri/Walothen | Finland/Germany | Bayer's PP films subsidiary | acq | |
| Xenova/KS Biomedix | UK/UK | biotechnology | acq | $14m |
| Yukos/Sibneft (YukosSibneft Oil) | Russia/Russia | oil and petrochemicals | merger | |
| Zimmer/Fleissner | Germany/Germany | staple fibre contractor | acq | |
| Zorlu Petrogas/Sanko Kimya | Turkey/Turkey | textiles | 48.70% |