In the early 1990s, Äänekoski started to operate under the name Metsä-Serla Chemicals. In the following years, the CMC business was significantly expanded through acquisitions in the Netherlands and Sweden and further expansion of capacity in Finland. The largest single CMC line in the world was started up in the early 1990s in Finland, and the group's total CMC capacity reached 75,000 metric tons per year.

The group's sales and marketing centre was established in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and company-owned sales offices were opened in the United Kingdom and in the USA to further support strong growth in the business.

The group grew in the 1990s to become the global leader in CMC. In 1996 the majority of the CMC operation was acquired by Industri Kapital 1994 Fund, a Swedish equity fund, and Metsa Specialty Chemicals was established. The business continued to grow and new capacity for purified CMC was built. In 2000 the company name was changed into Noviant and in June 2001 Noviant was acquired by J.M. Huber Corporation, USA.