Profitable Segments Research Articles

Value-Based Market Segmentation of West Asian Medical Tourism Market: A Case of Iran.

Identifying different groups of customers and their preferences and needs enable countries to gain a competitive advantage in the medical tourism market. We aimed to segment medical tourists from West Asian countries seeking medical services in Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 596 medical tourists who sought medical services in Iran in 2021. Data were collected using a valid questionnaire. Segmentation was performed based on medical tourism attributes (medical, destination, and tourism attributes), using cluster analysis methods; wards, and K means. The segments ' evaluation and profiling were conducted using discriminant analysis, chi-square, and oneway ANOVA tests. Our study divided the market into five segments: health seekers (3.8%), health and destination seekers (8.9%), tourism seekers (17.8%), infrastructure seekers (10.23%), and perfectionism (59.45%). In all segments, the health attributes were of high importance. The perfectionism segment registered the highest score in all three attributes (more than 5 of 6). Improving health attributes and offering luxurious medical services can be the main strategy for Iran to attract the most medical tourists and achieve a good position in this marketplace. The implication of this study is policymaking for targeting the most profitable segment of this marketplace.

РОССИЙСКИЕ КОМПАНИИ В ГЛОБАЛЬНЫХ ЦЕПОЧКАХ ДОБАВЛЕННОЙ СТОИМОСТИ В УСЛОВИЯХ ПЕРЕХОДА К НОВОМУ ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКОМУ УКЛАДУ

The article addresses world trade’s global trends related to the increasing role of technology under the transition to a new technological way. Meanwhile, technology-intensive segments of global value chains generate high value-added and play a strategic role in entering new markets today. This situation creates challenges and risks for Russian companies in the context of their participation in GVCs. The article notes the high degree of digital and technological dependence on foreign partners. The problem of the widening of the digital divide is analyzed. The article highlight the following key sources of external challenges facing national companies: the concentration of control over digital and technological GVCs in the hands of several market “giants”, as well as and the wide use of competition-distorting practices aimed to conquer the most profitable segments of the GVC. Western countries are increasingly resorting to such practices, including as part of their sanctions polic. In some cases, these countries justify their measures on national security grounds, “tailoring” them to respective exceptions to the rules of the World Trade Organization. The article also explores other tools used by Western countries with a view to legitimize the measures they take to “redivide” the high-tech market and/or maintain leading positions in it. Large-scale import-substituting subsidies for technological development are the example. Taking into account the identified challenges and threats, the article provides for possible directions for increasing the efficiency of participation of Russian companies in the GVCs and thus achieving the long-term task of strengthening the global competitiveness of the Russian economy.

The efficiency assessment of budgetary fund implementation in agro-industrial complex

In recent years, the agro-industrial complex has emerged as a crucial sector in the Republic of Kazakhstan, playing a pivotal role in ensuring the nation's food security. State support for agriculture constitutes a multifaceted mechanism encompassing measures that influence the income of agricultural industries, the structure and scale of agricultural production, the agri-food market, and the social fabric of rural areas. Financial resources are allocated from budgets at various administrative levels to support the agricultural sector of Kazakhstan. The primary objective is to assess the efficient utilization of budget funds allocated to the agricultural sector of Kazakhstan. A combination of economic-statistical, estimated-comparative, logical, and analytical analysis methods was employed to achieve this goal. The results reveal that a targeted agricultural policy, coupled with effective state regulation mechanisms, enables the attainment of high levels of productivity and efficiency in this industry. Nevertheless, despite these successes, the current role of the agro-industrial complex in shaping the economy is deemed insufficient. This is evidenced by indicators assessing the sector's contribution to macroeconomic benchmarks. In conclusion, an evaluation of the current state of development in the Republic of Kazakhstan's agricultural industry reflects a positive growth trend in recent years. However, the agricultural sector continues to be among the less profitable segments of the domestic economy, grappling with persistent challenges that have yet to be fully overcome.

Overwhelming targeting options: Selecting audience segments for online advertising

Even as online advertising continues to grow, a central question remains: Who to target? Yet, advertisers know little about how to select from the hundreds of audience segments for targeting (and combinations thereof) for a profitable online advertising campaign. Utilizing insights from a field experiment on Facebook (Study 1), we develop a model that helps advertisers solve the cold-start problem of selecting audience segments for targeting. Our model enables advertisers to calculate the break-even performance of an audience segment to make a targeted ad campaign at least as profitable as an untargeted one. Advertisers can use this novel model to decide whether to test specific audience segments in their campaigns (e.g., in randomized controlled trials). We apply our model to data from the Spotify ad platform to study the profitability of different audience segments (Study 2). Approximately half of those audience segments require the click-through rate to double compared to an untargeted campaign, which is unrealistically high for most ad campaigns. Our model also shows that narrow segments require a lift that is likely not attainable, specifically when the data quality of these segments is poor. We confirm this theoretical finding in an empirical study (Study 3): A decrease in data quality due to Apple’s introduction of the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework more negatively affects the click-through rate of narrow (versus broad) audience segments.

Segment Reporting and Segment Profitability: A Case Study on General Electric

ABSTRACT This case study uses segment data from General Electric’s SEC filings to provide students in managerial and cost accounting courses the opportunity to see how a variety of classroom topics apply to a real-world company. Students are required to find relevant segment-related data in 10-Ks. By using financial accounting data to make managerial accounting decisions, the case serves as a link between financial and managerial accounting. This case has four independent requirements that focus on a different topic related to segment reporting: (1) segment performance measures, (2) segment profitability, (3) segment decision-making, and (4) segment reporting changes as connected to corporate structure and strategy. In each requirement, students are asked to prepare a memo and supporting analysis based on the relevant segment-related data. The modular nature of the case provides instructors with flexibility for implementation in a variety of managerial and cost accounting courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. JEL Classifications: M40; M41.

Exploring the influence of profitability analysis on SME financing: A conceptual view

By allocating earnings and expenditures to each client independently, customer profitability analysis is a management accounting and credit underwriting tool that enables businesses and lenders to assess the profitability of individual customers or segments of customers. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) constitute the backbone of most economies and a key driver of economic expansion. This conceptual study surveys the literature on the subject in order to make assumptions that might be tested in subsequent research on the role of cost-benefit analysis in raising corporate performance. This is accomplished by referencing the viewpoints on financing small and medium-sized businesses as well as the fundamentals of strategic management accounting. The financial services sector, as well as the informal and formal sectors of the economy in every nation, would benefit greatly from an investigation into this issue. The originality of this conceptual study is in its contribution to the advancement of conceptual, methodological, and theoretical justification for the effects of profitability analysis funding of small and medium-sized enterprises. This will support the discussion in the present literature.

Fear psychosis : Marketing strategy for next gen buyers

Marketing has reached the holistic concept era where a business is acting as single entity not to ignore any potential segment. Hence, companies look for profitable segments and strategies holistically for a sustainable business performance . The Millennial are considered as the largest buyers & influencers of new and proven commodities worldwide. This is the generation that have taken over the workforces and are the strongest economic force segment to recognize. This generation is vulnerable on choices , rational/ less emotional on buying approach, evaluative on advantages, benefits and disadvantages , with great buying power and sources of information. So making them to remain associated with the brand, making them to do repeat buys, control their rationality and evaluative approach is not the easy task. Marketers need to do something strategically to “hold” them to buy their products and remain engaged . Companies believe that the only thing this rational, non emotional, evaluative, money minded customer could be handled is to make him “fearful about his health, safety & security. Create threats to these sensitive aspects and then offer solution for those , he will believe that you care for him the most. In recent years this strategy has come up as Fear Psychosis which is an extension of emotional Psychosis in marketing context . It is the only thing seems to be working on this generation. Fear-based marketing influences the audiences’ psychology and urges them to take action to minimize that fear. This strategy has helped businesses to keep the customers engaged with the brand and believe that company cares for him better than others.

Development of a hybrid model to plan segment based optimal promotion strategy

The study addresses the long-term effects of promotions in terms of movement in a value-based segmentation (lead, iron, gold, platinum), instead of simply looking at response rates that occur shortly after the promotion. The study develops a framework for planning an optimal promotion strategy via Markov Decision Processes and Machine Learning methods for an online department store. In the first phase, the states are set as the customer profitability segments in order to conduct the MDPs. Then, MDP model is solved, and the optimal decision for each segment is determined. In the second phase, in order to aid the company for making their plans for the next year, the segment that the customer will belong to next year should be predicted. Prediction of the future customer profitability segment is performed by using several machine learning algorithms, and the best performing model is selected. Using this best performing model, the company can predict the future (potential) profitability segment of the customer and make plans which include the optimal promotions that will be directed to the customers depending on their segments (these optimal promotions are the outcomes of the first phase). The proposed framework can be applied by practitioners in e-commerce companies which keep customer data.

Segmentation using Customers Lifetime Value: Hybrid K-means Clustering and Analytic Hierarchy Process

Background: Understanding customers’ electricity consumption patterns is essential for developing predictive analytics, which is needed for effective supply and demand management. Objective: This study aims to understand customers’ segmentation and consumption behaviour using a hybrid approach combining the K-Means clustering, customer lifetime value concept, and analytic hierarchy process. Methods: This study uses more than 16 million records of customers’ electricity consumption data from January 2019 to December 2020. The K-Means clustering identifies the initial market segments. The results were then evaluated and validated using the customer lifetime value concept and analytical hierarchy process. Results: Three customer segments were identified. Segment 1 has 282 business customers with a total capacity of 938,837 kWh, peak load usage of 27,827 kWh, and non-peak load usage of 115,194 kWh. Segment 2 has 508,615 business customers with a total capacity of 4,260 kWh, a peak load of 35 kWh, and a non-peak load of 544 kWh. Segment 3 has 37 business customers with a total capacity of 2,226,351 kWh, a peak load of 123.297 kWh, and a non-peak load of 390,803. Conclusion: A business strategy that could be taken is to base customer relationship management (CRM) on the three-customer segmentation. For the least profitable segment, aside from retail account marketing, a continuous partnership program is needed to increase electricity consumption during the non-peak period. For the highly and moderately profitable segments, a premium business-to-business approach can be applied to accommodate their increasing energy consumption without excessive electricity use in the peak period. Special account executives need to be deployed to handle these customers.

A Study on the Preference Towards the Investment Plans Among the Youth

A country's reserve funds, and investments inclinations likewise assume a critical part in accomplishing dynamic solidness in the capital market. Per Capita Income (PCI) in India has been on the ascent since the entirety of the last decade. With development in the PCI, reserve funds and interest in the nation also has shown a northward development. Simultaneously, there has been a wonderful ascent in the young populace. This has made India the most youthful country with a segment profit having all the earmarks of being a reality. This youthful work power is relied upon to drive the driving force of development. In Economics, speculation is for the most part held to mean arrangement of capital. According to an unadulterated financial aspects perspective, the development of actual resources is significant while thinking about investment. This investigation centers around what is alluded to as Financial Investment for example interest in offers and protections pointed principally at procuring pay instead of improving creation. This examination inspects the reserve funds and speculation example of select school going understudies (Age: 18-30 years) in the city of Jamshedpur and Bhubaneswar who has quite recently started to acquire. The examination additionally investigates the fundamental monetary proficiency among the youngsters; how they approach instructing themselves, and how would they see hazard, returns and different methods of ventures and what decides something similar. Mutual fund has gained the favor of young investors. Investment in mutual funds through the Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) is a favored investment option for the youngsters. Youngsters today do know about the options available to them due to the rapid spread of information in recent times; they are not always sure about how to go about investing in newer ways actively.

Comparing online retail loyalty segments of Indian Gen Z buyers

PurposeGeneration Z (Gen Z) is particularly influenced by digital technologies as this cohort is found to have grown up with technology forming the pivot of most of their routine activities. Owing to the huge potential of this market, online retailers are keen to build and sustain their loyalty. Shopper’s loyalty varies across age, gender, income, service quality perceptions, etc. of customers. This study aims to show that it is necessary to identify distinct consumer segments of these shoppers which can enable online retailers to fine tune their marketing programs and increase program effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 700 students pursuing Masters in Business Administration (553 usable responses) from two state universities in North India, data have been collected with reference to accessories, clothes, books and electronic goods. SPSS and AMOS have been used to analyse data using cluster analysis and multinomial logit (MNL) regression analysis.FindingsThe results of cluster analysis reveal that these shoppers can be clustered into three segments, namely disloyal shoppers (DS), staunch loyals (SL) and vacillating shoppers (VS) on the basis of their online retail loyalty. The odds ratio reveals that less frequent online shoppers are less likely to be VS or DS than being SL shoppers. People who experience flow while surfing online shopping websites are 3.260 times more likely to be VS than being SL. Further, service quality decreases the odds of a shopper acting as a VS in comparison to SL shopper by 0.113.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings would help marketers identify strategies that can transform the VS or the disloyal ones into loyal and profitable segments. The present study is limited to Gen Z shoppers and so results may vary for customers belonging to other age groups.Originality/valueThe study contributes to existing literature by understanding the antecedents which contribute to online retail loyalty of distinct segments of young shoppers.

K-Means Clustering Approach for Intelligent Customer Segmentation Using Customer Purchase Behavior Data

E-commerce system has become more popular and implemented in almost all business areas. E-commerce system is a platform for marketing and promoting the products to customer through online. Customer segmentation is known as a process of dividing the customers into groups which shares similar characteristics. The purpose of customer segmentation is to determine how to deal with customers in each category in order to increase the profit of each customer to the business. Segmenting the customers assist business to identify their profitable customer to satisfy their needs by optimizing the services and products. Therefore, customer segmentation helps E-commerce system to promote the right product to the right customer with the intention to increase profits. There are few types of customer segmentation factors which are demographic psychographic, behavioral, and geographic. In this study, customer behavioral factor has been focused. Therefore users will be analyzed using clustering algorithm in determining the purchase behavior of E-commerce system. The aim of clustering is to optimize the experimental similarity within the cluster and to maximize the dissimilarity in between clusters. In this study there are relationship between three clusters: event type, products, and categories. In this research, the proposed approach analyzed the groups that share similar criteria to help vendors to identify and focus on the high profitable segment to the least profitable segment. This type of analysis can play important role in improving the business. Grouping their customer according to their similar behavioral factor to sustain their customer for long-term and increase their business profit. It also enables high exposure of the e-offer to gain attention of potential customers. In order to process the collected data and segment the customers, an learning algorithm is used which is known as K-Means clustering. K-Means clustering is implemented to solve the clustering problems.

Use of The Resource Consumption Accounting Method in Customer Profitability Analysis: A Case Study of A 5-Star Hotel

This study was designed to illustrate the implementation of customer profitability analysis (CPA) using resource consumption accounting (RCA) for a hotel. A case study was performed at a 5-star hotel in Antalya, Turkey whose room capacity is 350. Interviews, direct observations, and document collection were used to obtain data while seeking to understand how the RCA method affects analysis results by applying the case study method for a hotel. Results indicated that some customer segments, which are unprofitable by the traditional costing method, are profitable while using RCA. The cost of idle resources devoted to activities in the hotel was also put forth with the case study. Utilizing these results, the hotel management is better able to understand the profitability of different customer segments and implement appropriate strategies. There are limited studies in the literature on profitability analysis in hotel companies and, to the best of author’s knowledge, no other research has used the case study method to analyze customer profitability with the RCA method in this field. Therefore, this paper contributes to the literature by analyzing the use of the RCA method for CPA in the real-life case of an actual hotel.

PESTEL analysis and the macro-environmental factors that influence the development of the electric and hybrid vehicles industry in Brazil

Electric and hybrid vehicles have existed since the end of the 19th century. With the current demand for sustainable development of many countries, they emerged as a potential solution for some transportation sector problems. In Brazil, not differently, these vehicles become an essential part of the discussions about the future of the country’s transportation system. With an important automotive industry and a huge electric system, 72% renewable energy-based, this country appears to be the right place to develop this industry. It is well known that, in general, nations offer support, within their capacity, for the development of their economic sectors. For strategic management, the factors offered by a country are found in the so-called organizational macro-environment, which can be organized in political, economic, legal, technological, socio-cultural and ecological, among other segments. The importance of assessing the macro-environment's influence on developing Brazil's electric and hybrid vehicles industry can be noted. In this way, this article presents a comprehensive analysis of the Brazilian scenario showing potential opportunities and threats offered by its macro-environment. The PESTEL framework was used. The results show that Brazil has profitable segments that could impulse the electric and hybrid car industry. Technological and ecological segments are the leading positive influencers. Political and legal segments also are positive forces for the sector, despite the current crisis faced in the country. The economic and social segments present the least potential opportunities and the most significant amount of potential threats.

ОЦІНЮВАННЯ ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ ВПРОВАДЖЕННЯ ЦИФРОВИХ ІННОВАЦІЙ НА ПІДПРИЄМСТВАХ ЗАЛІЗНИЧНОГО ТРАНСПОРТУ

The article analyzes the investment policy of railway transport enterprises and establishes the limited investment resources for implementing the latest digital solutions in the industry. It is indicated that the system of innovation and technological support for the development of railway transport enterprises in the conditions of their adaptation to digital challenges should be supported by a number of local innovation projects that will ensure the timely implementation of global technological solutions aimed at the formation of a “smart railway” and on this basis the gradual digitization of business segments of the industry's enterprises. It is noted that the introduction of such innovative measures will reduce energy consumption, reduce operating costs, create fundamentally new working conditions for industry workers, increase labor productivity and improve the quality indicators of rolling stock use, and therefore they must necessarily be subject to assessment and effective management impact. The expediency of developing methodological aspects for evaluating the effectiveness of implementing innovative digital projects at railway transport enterprises is proved. The article examines the existing scientific approaches to assessing the effectiveness of implementing innovative solutions, including in the field of railway transport. A methodological approach to assessing the effectiveness of implementing digital solutions at railway transport enterprises is proposed, which provides for calculating the economic effect achieved by optimizing costs, increasing the profitability of business segments of railway industry enterprises and increasing the cost of their business as a result of implementing digital changes, and a synergistic effect that takes into account the leveling of digital asymmetry of participants in the innovation process and improving their digital communication. It is noted that the application of this methodology in the activities of railway transport enterprises will contribute to the adoption of informed management decisions in the direction of high-quality digital modernization of the activities of industry enterprises.

Стан та перспективи розвитку медіакритичних інтернет-ресурсів в Україні

The objective of the article is to ascertain the state of development of domestic media critical internet resources and the specifics of their activities. The tasks of the article are the following: 1) to study the modern domestic media discourse; 2) to analyze the problematic aspects of media critical publications; 3) to identify the prospects for development of Ukrainian media criticism after researching the modern domestic media discourse. It was established that media criticism in Ukraine, although being a relatively new segment of journalism, develops intensively in several directions – media criticism, media literacy and media monitoring and is a synthesized phenomenon, performing a number of important functions regarding control and regulation of information space, as well as information and communication, cognitive, regulatory functions. After analyzing the problematic aspects of media critical publications, it was established that the key directions of their work were mainly aimed at recognizing and refuting fakes, emergence of which was caused mainly by the spread of COVID-19 pandemic аnd a full-scale Russian invasion. Among the prospects for development of domestic media criticism there is involvement of a large part of the readership in understanding this discourse, raising the level of media literacy and media culture in the society. A characteristic feature of domestic media criticism is that it mainly serves as a mechanism of media self-regulation, because its materials are devoted to interpretation of development trends and development problems. Another of its features is that it is mainly represented by online publications, and some of them function due to foreign donor support, because it is not a profitable segment of the media, acting as an axiological and cognitive sphere of journalism and a civilizing factor of the society.

ОЦІНКА ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ УПРАВЛІННЯ КРЕДИТНИМ ПОРТФЕЛЕМ БАНКУ: ТЕОРІЯ ТА ПРАКТИКА

The stability and profitability of a commercial bank directly depends on the quality organization of credit services. At the same time, it is important to explore the methodological tools for assessing the effectiveness of loan portfolio management, which will allow banking institutions to make timely management decisions regarding the formation of the optimal loan portfolio. The article describes the methodological approaches to assessing the effectiveness of credit portfolio management of a commercial bank. The most common methodological approaches, methods and indicators for determining the effectiveness of the bank's loan portfolio management are systematized. The general efficiency of management of banking institution on the basis of the analysis of the basic financial and economic indicators of activity of commercial bank is defined. The profitability of the bank's activity, the growth of cash and cash equivalents on accounts, the increase in the bank's loan portfolio and the expansion of the customer base for the period under study were established. The dynamics and structure of the loan portfolio of a commercial bank, which is dominated by consumer lending to individuals, which is the largest profitable segment of banking, has been studied. An assessment of compliance by a commercial bank with credit risk standards set by the National Bank of Ukraine was performed. The coefficient method is used to assess the effectiveness of the loan portfolio. Indicators of credit portfolio management efficiency have been studied: credit activity ratio; the share of the loan portfolio in total liabilities; equity coverage ratio of the loan portfolio; loan portfolio growth rate; the share of non-performing loans in the loan portfolio; loan portfolio hedging ratio; credit risk coverage ratio; the share of quality loans in the loan portfolio; the share of written-off loans in the loan portfolio; loan portfolio profitability indicator. The results of the calculation of some of these indicators indicate a decrease in the quality of the bank's loan portfolio. Based on the calculation of financial ratios, the directions of optimization of the loan portfolio of a commercial bank are identified.

The determinants of bank selection criteria of SMEs: a fuzzy analytic hierarchy approach

PurposeSmall and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been reported as a credit-constrained sector in the earlier literature. Amidst the available external financing options, SMEs are dependent upon banks for their financial needs, hence they offer an important profitable segment for banks. Commercial banks need to develop effective targeting strategies for this segment and ranking the priorities of SMEs in selecting commercial banks will be of great help to them. The purpose of this paper is to implement a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) multi-criteria decision model for commercial bank’s selection by SMEs.Design/methodology/approachThe research process was carried out in two phases. In Phase I, a self-structured scale was developed to measure bank selection criteria of SMEs after an extensive review of the literature of relevant studies on the topic. A sample of 600 SMEs was selected through non-proportionate quota sampling and only 313 valid responses were received. Phase II was conducted to prioritize the extracted factors through FAHP, a multi-criteria decision-making technique. For this purpose, another questionnaire was designed in the form of pair-wise evaluation and the response was taken on the same from those 313 SMEs again.FindingsThe results showed that SMEs bank selection criteria can be categorized under six heads, namely, bank attributes, accommodation of credit needs (AC), bank personnel, financial factors (FF), service quality (SQ) and business knowledge. The research study produced a reliable and valid instrument for studying the bank selection criteria of SMEs. The results further revealed that AC is the most important factor considered by SMEs followed by FF and SQ. Going further, global weights were also calculated through the FAHP which revealed that the most important consideration (variable) viewed upon by SMEs is willingness to accommodate credit needs followed by flexible collateral requirements and absence of hidden charges.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of the present study offer significant insights as to the factors SMEs consider while making a bank selection decision. It is of utmost importance for banks to identify true determinant factors used by SMEs while making bank choice decisions as they offer ample profit and revenue opportunities to banks. The results of the study provide a practical approach to banks that would help them in framing strategies for SMEs customers.Originality/valueThis is the first study of its kind which has not only focused on the hierarchy of factors measuring bank selection criteria of SMEs rather on the hierarchy of single variables also through the calculation of global weights. As banks cannot focus on all the dimensions of the criteria, they can focus on the spirit of that particular criteria.

Multimodal soccer highlight identification using a sparse subset of frames integrating long-term sliding windows

The massive growth of audiences eager for sport content has substantially increased workers’ demand in this profitable segment. Highlight identification is vital for summarizing football matches. Decision support tools can significantly reduce the number of company employees required to tackle such a task, widely benefiting workforce resource allocation. This paper discusses the development of an automatic football highlight detector. The proposed system exploits discriminative low-level audio and video features extracted from a compact set of irregularly time–spaced frames that integrate a long-term sliding window. A new mixed wrapper-probabilistic algorithm leverages a cost-effective selection of the most significant frames submitted to a robust multi-frame consensus classification scheme. By considering a comprehensive database integrating 30 full matches, the proposed approach achieves a highlight identification rate of 100% (including all annotated goals), conjugated with a match-time compression rate of about 94%, when employing a Random Forest classifier.

Chemical firms ink deals

Three chemical makers have wrapped up sales intended to fine-tune their business portfolios. Albemarle has completed the sale of its fine chemistry services unit to W. R. Grace for about $570 million. The sale leaves Albemarle focused on lithium, bromine, and refining catalysts. Grace, which struck the deal while being pursued and acquired by the investment firm Standard Industries, says the purchase will expand its pharma and consumer business, its most profitable segment. Meanwhile, Lanxess has completed the sale of its organic leather chemical business to TFL Ledertechnik, a German leather chemical specialist, for as much as $260 million if all milestones are reached. Lanxess had sold its business in chrome chemicals, also used in leather tanning, last year. And BASF has completed the sale of its plant in Kankakee, Illinois, which makes surfactants and natural vitamin E, to One Rock Capital Partners. The investment firm has renamed the business