president awards national science, technology medals
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News of the Week
Dainippon bids for Reichhold Chemicals Yet another U.S. chemical company is under attack from a foreign firm in a takeover attempt. The invader this time comes from Japan.
Through its wholly owned subsidiary DIC Holdings, Dainippon Ink & Chemicals surprised Reichhold Chemicals last week with a tender offer to acquire the company for $52lli a share. The day before the offer, Reichhold's stock closed at $42V2. But the next morning it jumped to $57%, indicating that arbitrageurs were anticipating an even better offer.
Reichhold chairman C. Robert Powell advised stockholders last week to postpone any decision on the offer until the board finished its evaluation.
The offer totaling $473 million is conditioned on DIC's acquiring a majority ownership in Reichhold. Currently, it owns about 4.5% of Reichhold's outstanding shares. A more important condition is that Reichhold's board of directors buy back the company's preferred stock purchase rights or at least be satisfied that these rights are not applicable to a merger.
Earlier this year, Reichhold 's board took "poison pill" measures against takeover attempts. Among them were stockholder rights to purchase stock in Reichhold or the surviving company at half the stock price.
To force Reichhold into a move, DIC Holdings says it is filing a lawsuit against Reichhold and its directors in Delaware to seek, among other things, the redemption of Reichhold's poison pill rights and a declaration that certain antitakeover provisions in Reichhold's charter are invalid.
If the tender offer is successful, DIC will propose a second-step merger in which the Reichhold shares not tendered will be converted to cash equal to the price paid in the tender offer.
Acquisition of Reichhold would give Dainippon a raw materials source of printing ink resins and would further establish Dainippon as a force in U.S. printing inks. In
addition, there are many parallels between the product lines of the two companies, especially in resins.
The Dainippon-Reichhold relationship stretches back to the 1950s when Kawamura Inc., the predecessor Japanese company, formed a licensing agreement with Reichhold to enter synthethic resins. This was accomplished through a joint venture— Japan Reichhold Chemical Co. In 1962, Kawamura acquired the Reichhold interest and became the present Dainippon Ink & Chemicals. D
Colorado to restrict gasoline use in winter This week urban Colorado motorists are expected to become the first in the nation to be barred from using gasoline in winter. Beginning this December, they will be required to use high-oxygenated fuels, such as gasohol (90% gasoline, 10% etha-nol) or gasoline containing 8% methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), from Dec. 1 to March 1 to reduce airborne carbon monoxide levels.
Colorado is taking this step to comply more closely with the Dec. 31 deadline for meeting the Clean Air Act's carbon monoxide standard. The state faces a "possible loss of about $30 million per year, primarily a loss of highway funds," for not meeting the deadline, Ted W. Holl-man, an air pollution control specialist in the Colorado Department of Health, says.
Dale M. Wells, an environmental engineer in the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 8 office in Denver, says the switch to oxygenated fuels "is extremely appropriate, especially for Denver." At high altitudes where the air is thinner, the fuel mixture tends to be richer, and more pollutants are emitted.
"Results of a four-year study of oxygenated fuels, funded by EPA, are very encouraging," Wells says. Decreases in carbon monoxide levels ranged from 15 to 30%, depending on the type of fuel and vehicle.
Seventy-five per cent of Colorado's population lives in the Front Range area, which is affected by the new ruling. Hollman says sup
plies of gasohol and MTBE are sufficient, and increases in annual fuel costs to motorists are estimated at less than $5.00 per year.
Lynn E. Hohensee, a spokesman for Conoco Oil Co., the major fuel supplier to Colorado, says the company will review its options after June 29, the date the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission is expected to finalize the ruling. He says Conoco will "seek some kind of relief from the Dec. 1 deadline for switching fuels." This is a "highly unreasonable date for us because we have to construct additional refining facilities and acquire the feedstocks," he explains. D
President awards national science, technology medals
President Reagan awarded 20 National Medals of Science and four Nation-al Medals of Technology during ceremonies in the White House rose garden last Thursday. The medals represent the nation's highest honor for achievement in mathematics, science» engineering, and technology.
Among this year's recipients, there are a number of chemists, a chemical engineer, and professionals active in chemically related fields. They include:
Phillip H. Abelson, geochemist and former editor of Science.
R> Byron Bird, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Harry Eagle, director of the Cancer Research Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
John E. Franz, distinguished fellow at Monsanto.
William S. Johnson, professor emeritus at Stanford University.
H. Gobind Khorana, professor of biology and chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Paul C. Lauterbur, professor at the University of Illinois' College of Medicine.
Rita Levi-Montalcini, director of the Laboratory of Cell Bioiogy in Rome, Italy.
Walter H. Stockmayer, professor emeritus at Dartmouth College.
Max Tishler, professor emeritus at Wesleyan University.
8 June 29, 1987 C&EN
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