Spending 98.5 billion yuan! Suozhi Tai splinters off and immediately spends big on an acquisition—leading additive manufacturer ventures into lithium batteries. What, exactly, are these industry giants racing to secure?

After integration, the two parties will form a complete closed-loop industrial chain: Orion’s upstream basic chemical raw material production capacity can directly meet Huntsman’s demand for high-end chemical product manufacturing, thoroughly resolving the dual industry pain points of upstream idle capacity and downstream high raw material costs. Meanwhile, both sides can share global sales channels, core technical formulations, and end-customer resources. In short, this is a mutually beneficial deal. Breaking Boundaries: Industrial Borders Are Blurring If the first two deals represent textbook-perfect, strategically clear mergers and acquisitions, Rike Chemical’s cross-sector acquisition resembles more of a ‘last-ditch gamble.’ On June 29, Rike Chemical announced its plan to acquire control of Shandong Genyuan New Materials Co., Ltd. via a combination of share issuance and cash payment, along with raising complementary financing. Rike Chemical is China’s leading enterprise in plastic and rubber modifier additives, with core products including ACR-series processing aids and ACM-series additives, widely applied in PVC profiles, wood-plastic building materials, and wire & cable sectors. However, pressured by sluggish downstream demand from real estate and home furnishing sectors, the company’s profits have been persistently strained: its net profit attributable to shareholders stood at RMB 196 million, RMB 85 million, -RMB 68.16 million, and -RMB 29.71 million for 2022 through 2025, respectively. Genyuan New Materials, by contrast, is the world’s largest producer of vinylene carbonate (VC)—a key electrolyte additive for lithium-ion batteries—with main products also including fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC). In 2021, Genyuan New Materials completed construction of the world’s first 10,000-ton-per-year VC production line, pioneering breakthroughs in by-product separation technology and ultra-high-purity product purification, achieving industrial-scale production of products with 99.999% purity. In April 2026, its new 30,000-ton-per-year VC production line officially commenced operations. The true highlight of this acquisition lies in the target company’s shareholder structure. Equity records show that Tan Yejun holds 42.16% of Genyuan New Materials—the largest single shareholder—while CATL directly holds 13.45%, ranking second. Additionally, two funds jointly initiated by CATL—Shidai Mindong and Yibin Chendao—hold 6.28% and 3.72%, respectively; thus, CATL and its affiliated entities collectively hold nearly 23%. Not only is CATL a shareholder, but it is also a major customer of Genyuan New Materials. This dual role as both ‘shareholder and customer’ deeply embeds Genyuan New Materials within the global power battery giant’s supply chain. Downstream customers further include BYD, Sinochem Group, Tinci Materials, Gotion High-Tech, and AVIC Lithium Battery—covering virtually all leading domestic new-energy battery enterprises. Yet for Rike Chemical, this acquisition remains a high-stakes gamble. Under mounting pressure on its core business, the company has repeatedly ventured across sectors: in 2024, it entered the AI computing power sector via acquisition of Carbon & Tech; now, it sets its sights on the lithium battery arena. Behind such frequent acquisitions lies a sharp rise in the company’s debt-to-asset ratio—up nearly 34 percentage points over three years. The leap—from plastic additives to lithium battery additives—is less a strategic transformation than a desperate, last-resort maneuver by a traditional chemical enterprise whose core business has lost momentum. Conclusion Viewed collectively, the logic behind these transactions becomes clear: Suozhi Tai spends money to buy faster-growing electronic materials businesses; Orion and Huntsman merge to fill respective gaps in their industrial chains; and Rike Chemical seeks an entirely new path because its core business can no longer sustain it.

U.S. stock market movement | Alcoa surges nearly 7%; Assenagon Asset Management increases stake by over 50,000 shares in Q1

Gelonghui, July 7 — Alcoa (AA.US) rose 6.92% to $45.58, with a total market capitalization of $8.4 billion. According to Assenagon Asset Management’s latest 13F filing, the firm purchased 585,514 shares of Alcoa in Q1. Following this增持, Assenagon Asset Management holds 630,242 shares, valued at $56.74 million.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases New Stake in Element Solutions Inc.

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Assenagon Asset Management acquired a 0.93% stake in Element Solutions Inc., investing approximately $82.2 million in the third quarter of 2026. The investment follows strong quarterly earnings, with analysts maintaining a "Buy" rating on the stock.

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