Clariant Frontrunner in Sued-Chemie Sale - A Deal Could Be Struck Within Days

Clariant looks set to beat out remaining rival Mitsui Chemicals in the bidding for Germany's Sued-Chemie and a deal could be struck within days, three people familiar with the negotiations said.  The mooted deal would value Sued-Chemie, a maker of catalysts for making petrochemicals and biofuels, at roughly 1.4 billion euros ($1.9 billion) without debt, equivalent to 115 euros per share, one of the people said.  The shares traded at 106 euros apiece before the group's Chief Executive in November said that its majority shareholder, buyout group One Equity Partners (OEP), was looking into ways to sell its investment.

The thinly traded stock dropped 1.7 percent to 128 euros in Frankfurt at 1519 GMT, down from 131 euros per share before the news.  Swiss chemicals group Clariant declined to comment. OEP, which holds 50.41 percent of Sued-Chemie, also declined to comment. Officials at Mitsui Chemicals were not immediately available for comment. In January, One Equity Partners (OEP) had lined up at least four bidders for its majority stake in Sued-Chemie, putting other investors under pressure to sell, people briefed on the matter told Reuters at the time.

Previous suitors who have dropped out of the auction are U.S. conglomerate Honeywell, Belgian catalysts and battery-materials maker Umicore, the Japanese maker of Verbatim data disks Mitsubishi Chemical and U.S. plastics and catalists company Albemarle.