Second-quarter results made it clear that the European chemicals sector’s long-running downturn will continue, marking an unwelcome turning point.

When private equity firms have money, they’re going to spend it. A recent wave of mega-funds is leading to a rise in massive deals.

AkzoNobel (AEX: AKZA) has decided to shop its €4.8B specialty chemicals business to potential buyers. But would-be bidders from outside Europe could face greater scrutiny by the European Commission.

Henkel has offered to acquire Darex Packaging Technologies from GCP Applied Technologies for $1.05 billion—potentially its fifth acquisition in chemicals & gases since 2010—but that’s far from the most active acquirers in the space.