Netherlands: Arkema has completed its acquisition of Den Braven, a producer of sealants for insulation and construction. Together with Arkema’s subsidiary Bostik, the purchase adds to the group’s presence in the sealant market around the world. The takeover is expected to add synergies of at least Euro30m.

"We are pleased to welcome the Den Braven teams. Their state-of-the-art technologies, first-class industrial facilities and know-how widely recognized by their customers are all assets that we will continue to develop and build upon within Bostik. We are confident that this new growth platform will support our very strong ambition in adhesives," said Vincent Legros, Executive Vice President of Bostik, a subsidiary of Arkema.

South Korea: Armacell and JIOS Aerogel (JIOS) have formed a joint venture called Armacell Jios Aerogels (AJA) to develop and manufacture silica aerogel blankets. The new company will be based in Hong Kong and South Korea, operating from Armacell’s existing manufacturing facility in Cheonan, close to Seoul.

JIOS is contributing its process technology and proprietary manufacturing know-how as well as the intellectual property. Armacell will invest an undisclosed amount into aerogel blanket production equipment, accelerate the industrialisation and certification process and provide its world-wide distribution network to market the new technology. AJA will focus on delivering solutions based on aerogel blankets to the oil and gas, marine and general industrial sectors and in particular for high temperature and cryogenic applications.

“The joint venture with JIOS provides us with access to the next generation of aerogel technology and enables us to deliver a complete portfolio of thermal and acoustic insulation solutions to the oil & gas industry,” said Patrick Mathieu, chief executive officer and president of Armacell International.

France: Cement sector multinational LafargeHolcim has launched Airium, a mineral insulation foam. The product was developed at the group’s research and development centre near Lyon. Airium will target thermal insulation markets in Austria, France and Morocco. Later it will focus on North America and other European and North African countries.

Airium is being launched for the filling of concrete blocks in France and Austria and for roof terraces in Morocco. LafargeHolcim say that the insulation of concrete blocks with Airium makes it possible to build and insulate at the same time, saving construction time and space.

“With the launch of Airium, LafargeHolcim demonstrates once again its ability to rethink construction practices in order to continue delivering innovation,” said Gérard Kuperfarb, Group Head of Growth & Innovation at LafargeHolcim. The development of Airium is in line with the commitments of LafargeHolcim’s 2030 Plan to generate one third of its revenue from a portfolio of products and services with enhanced sustainability performance.

Belgium: Members of the Vacuum Insulation Panel Association, VIPA International, have appointed Gregor Erbenich of Porextherm as the new president of the association. He succeeds Roland Caps from Va-Q-Tec, who decided to step-down following his two-year tenure in the position.

Erbenich is the Head of Sales & Marketing NTI within Morgan Advanced Materials Thermal Ceramics – Porextherm. He has been serving as a Board member of the association since January 2015 and as chair of the Public Affairs Working Group since early 2016.