Clariant

Clariant emerged from Sandoz's 1997 specialty chemicals spinoff (post-Novartis merger), inheriting 100+ years of chemistry expertise without pharmaceutical margins. The company's $4.5B+ revenue comes from additives, catalysts, and pigments serving plastics, coatings, and consumer goods - industries where performance matters but switching costs are low. This positions Clariant in a challenging middle ground: not commodity enough for pure cost competition, not differentiated enough for monopoly pricing. The company's survival strategy: constant portfolio optimization, divesting low-margin businesses (pigments sold 2021) while growing in specialty segments (catalysts, personal care). Clariant proves that in specialty chemicals, sustainable profitability requires continuously moving upmarket to stay ahead of commoditization.