Outotec acquired Kempe Engineering's aluminum technologies, as well as its service and spare parts businesses in the Middle East and Africa. Outotec acquired a majority of the shares in Biomin South Africa and took a stake in Biomin Technologies, based in Switzerland. In addition, Outotec took ownership of the intellectual property and marketing rights to the BIOX bio-oxidation technology. BIOX is a biological method for dissolving refractory gold ores. Canadian company Kovit Engineering Limited specialized in solutions for treating the tailings from ore enrichment. Outotec acquired Sinter Plant Services to complement its services to the ferrochrome producers in South Africa. Outotec also announced that it was initiating a savings program worth EUR 70 million due to the weaker market environment in the mining and metal industry over the preceding years. Mining markets began to show signs of recovery in 2016. In summer 2016, President and CEO Pertti Korhonen was dismissed and Markku Teräsvasara was appointed to replace him on October 1, 2016. Prior to his appointment, Teräsvasara had served as Director at Atlas Copco. In May 2017, Teräsvasara commented that the company should not “spiral into cost-cutting and cycles of redundancies. There are also deals to be done: mines and refineries are not closing down, and some customers make small, essential investments, even in bad times. And naturally, there is plenty of maintenance.” One of the first changes that Teräsvasara instigated was to put the Services business into a separate unit. In July 2019, it was announced that Metso and Outotec are planning to combine Metso's Minerals business unit with Outotec. The new company's headquarters will be in Finland and it will maintain its listing on Nasdaq Helsinki. Before the transaction can be completed, the approval is needed by a majority of two-thirds of votes cast and shares represented at the respective EGMs of Metso and Outotec, as well as regulatory approvals. In 2012, 46 percent of sales were made in the EMEA area, which includes the EU, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East, and Africa. Africa is considered to be a clear growth area for the company, as are India and China, where environmental legislation is becoming more stringent. Examples of stricter legislation include Zürich, where the city council has purchased a modern sewage sludge incineration plant from Outotec, and Turkey, where Outotec technology is used to generate energy from chemical wood pulp waste.