The first quarter of 2007 was a busy period in global markets for technical textiles. Ahlstrom signed agreements to acquire Orlandi's spunlace nonwovens business in Italy and Fabriano Filter Media-a maker of microglass filter media. DSM Dyneema acquired Switzerland-based Pamako. Also, it won a legal battle after alleging that China's Hangzhou Pivot International had infringed patents covering its ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) Dyneema fibre. Danish investment company LD Equity took complete ownership of Jacob Holm & Sons STA. The latter owns Norafin, which manufactures technical and speciality nonwovens. It also owns Tytex, which produces medical textiles for global healthcare companies. Meanwhile, Whitestone took over Humanicare and created a US leader in adult incontinence care products. In business news, Edana is concerned that anti-dumping duties on polyester staple fibres are causing problems for European nonwovens producers. Nonwovens manufacturer Fibertex is exploring the potential of nanocoatings and Smith & Nephew plans to be the exclusive distributor of UDL Laboratories' Biobrane Biosynthetic Wound Dressing outside the USA. Nanopeutics and HemCon Medical Technologies have agreed to develop nano-scale nonwovens with chitosan for the US Military. Tyco healthcare will be renamed Covidien before separating from its parent company. And a consortium backed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the UK will develop textiles made from bioactive glass nanofibres for medical applications. In investment news, Ahlstrom will spend Euro5 mn (US$7 mn) on a new dry-laid nonwovens line at its facility in Groesbeck, Texas, USA. PGI will invest in a new technology to make "an entirely new category of high performance, cost effective engineered materials" for wipes and other uses. d3o lab-which makes the smart material d3o-has completed a multi-million pound round of fund raising initiatives to fuel international growth and commercial expansion. Meanwhile, Milliken has invested in a new microbiology laboratory at its Technical Centre in Gent in Belgium. Research by Freedonia Group predicts that US demand for geosynthetics will rise by 4.4% a year to 2010, reaching 796 mn m 2 (870 mn yd 2 ), while demand for coated fabrics will increase by 3.2% a year to 569 mn m 2 . Demand for wipes, on the other hand, will grow by 6.1% a year to US$2.2 bn in 2011. | 
