Kickstart: A view behind the headlines

There have been some big M&A deals going on, and we have a little more information behind what was driving a couple of them.

Don Loepp has an update on Trinseo SA and its acquisition of Arkema's acrylics business. The deal will bring a big brand name, Plexiglas, to Trinseo's stable but it also adds a big opportunity for growth in Asia.

The PMMA business employs 860 and operates seven production sites — four in Europe and three in North America. Trinseo CEO Frank Bozich said the biggest demand for PMMA is in Asia. "This represents a major growth opportunity for Trinseo because we already serve the same markets in China and across Asia with our engineered materials and base plastics."

Nordson Corp., meanwhile, did a deep data dive into its operations before deciding to sell its screws and barrels business, including the Xaloy brand.

Without Xaloy in the mix going forward, Catherine Kavanaugh writes, leaders with Nordson's Industrial Precision Solutions business will focus more time, energy and resources on their differentiated and profitable product lines.

"Identify our business goal," through the process, CEO Sundaram Nagarajan said. "Simplify the areas that distract you from focusing and growing with your full strength."

If any industry convention is capable of embracing the whole "virtual trade show" concept and making it work, it should be CES, the show formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show.

After all, the event in Las Vegas is the place to show off the latest and greatest technology, where virtual reality sets, screens, phones and tablets are featured at every booth. So it may be worth seeing how CES manages to pull off its event next month. Organizers already say they anticipate drawing 150,000 people to the show's events — the same number that attend the traditional show, according to our sister paper Advertising Age.
 

CES briefly considered a virtual reality version with attendees creating avatars that would attend a digital facsimile of the trade show floor. But too many people rejected that idea.

Attendees will pay $150 to attend the digital version of CES starting Jan. 11, while exhibitor rates start at $1,200, so virtual visitors will be expecting a return on their investment.

"Exhibitors will be listed online, and attendees can choose the companies and panels they want to view," Ad Age writes. "There will be ways for attendees to message each other and set up meetings. There will be more than 100 hours of programming, and all the content and communication functionality will be open for 30 days after the event."

LyondellBasell Industries is putting its messaging on sustainability to the test at its Cincinnati Technology Center where recycled polyethylene will be used to pave 2,885 square yards of its parking lot.

The project was developed along with the Plastics Industry Association and is the first installation of the New End Market Opportunities (NEMO) for Film Asphalt Project.

The parking lot will use the equivalent of 71,000 retail bags.

If the pilot project goes as expected, the NEMO technology could be used in a future parking lot using 20,000 pounds of recycled PE, the equivalent of 1.5 million plastic bags.

The project incorporates recycled PE as a solid additive during the asphalt mixture manufacturing process. The finished project offers the same benefits of traditional polymer-modified asphalt, but at a decreased cost, LyondellBasell and the plastics association said in a news release.