Chatterjee and Rhone Capital Close Lummus Buy
Haldia Petrochemicals, part of The Chatterjee Group (TCG), and investment funds affiliated with Rhone Capital have completed their joint acquisition of Lummus from major engineering and construction group McDermott International as of Jun. 30.
TCG and Rhone paid $2.725 billion for the technology division. The buyers had entered into a share and asset purchase agreement in January 2020 to acquire the business as a “stalking horse bidder” as part of McDermott’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.
Lummus is a leading licensor of proprietary gas processing, refining, petrochemical and gasification technologies as well as a supplier of catalysts, equipment and related services.
“This new and notable chapter starts with Lummus being a standalone company, as we will be the only major process technology licensor that is independent and privately held,” said Leon de Bruyn, president and CEO of Lummus Technology. “For our customers, employees and partners, this is a significant milestone. We will be able to focus exclusively on providing world-class technologies and solutions and developing long-term strategies that will allow Lummus to lead and shape the future of our industry.”
TCG’s founder chairman Purnendu Chatterjee added that it sees significant synergy with its existing portfolio companies in the area of digitalization.
Under the terms of the purchase, McDermott and Lummus have agreed to form a mutually beneficial arrangement in which both firms will cooperate to contribute their respective strengths to mutual customers.
On the day of completion, McDermott also announced that it had successfully completed its restructuring process, emerging with $2.4 billion in letter of credit capacity and $544 million of funded debt.
Proceeds from the Lummus sale repaid its debtor-in-possession financing in full and also funded emergence costs and provided cash for long-term liquidity.
McDermott’s President and CEO David Dickson commented: “We will continue executing on our significant backlog, with a new capital structure to match and support the strength of our operating business, and we emerge well-positioned for long-term growth and success, even amid this period of global uncertainty.”
