LANXESS Completes Sale of Urethane Business to UBE Corporation

08 Apr 2025 CW Team

LANXESS, a global speciality chemicals company, has completed the sale of its Urethane Systems business to Japan-based UBE Corporation. The deal, finalised on April 1, 2025, follows regulatory approval from all relevant antitrust authorities. UBE is a prominent chemical manufacturer listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The transaction was first announced in October 2024. Following its completion, LANXESS received gross cash proceeds of around €500 million, while the enterprise value of the deal stands at €460 million.

LANXESS plans to use the proceeds to redeem its €500 million benchmark bond due for maturity in May 2025. This will contribute to lowering its leverage ratio (net financial debt to EBITDA pre) to approximately 3x, in line with the company’s broader financial strategy.

The sale marks the final step in LANXESS’s portfolio transformation, allowing the company to streamline operations and further reduce its debt.

Infrastructure Urban

09 Apr 2026

Mineral Auction Rules Amended To Speed Mine Operationalisation

The Ministry of Mines notified the Mineral (Auction) Second Amendment Rules, 2026 on 30 March 2026 to accelerate operationalisation of mines and improve ease of doing business in the mining sector. The amendment follows a prior change to the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015 effected on 17 October 2025 that introduced intermediary timelines between issuance of a letter of intent (LoI) and execution of the mining lease. The 2025 change provided that one per cent of performance security would be appropriated for each month of delay by the preferred bidder and introduced incentives for early operatio..

Indian Railways Strengthens Telecom And AI Safety Systems

Indian Railways strengthened its telecom and digital infrastructure during 2025-26 with the aim of improving safety, operational efficiency and the passenger experience. The programme promoted modernisation through advanced technologies, robust communication systems and passenger-centric solutions. These measures were presented as part of a drive to build a digitally integrated rail ecosystem. A key development was the enhancement of the Internet Protocol Multi-Protocol Label Switching (IP MPLS) backbone, commissioned at 1,396 stations to meet bandwidth needs of mission-critical applications. ..

NHAI Holds Workshop on Litigation Management and Coordination

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) organised a day-long workshop in New Delhi to strengthen capacity and interdepartmental synergy for faster execution of national highway projects. The event was held under Mission Karmayogi – Sadhana Saptah, an initiative of the Government of India to enhance governance through capacity building and improved processes. The workshop focused on structured and solution oriented deliberations to address implementation constraints. The session was chaired by the NHAI chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav and brought together senior officials from NHAI, the M..