Dow Said to Hire Banks to Sell Two Businesses
Reports that Dow Chemical is moving ahead with previously announced plans to divest non-core business worth as much as $6 billion by 2015 continue in the spotlight.
The news agency Reuters has been told that the largest US chemical producer has hired investment bankers including Morgan Stanley to sell its Angus Chemical Co subsidiary based in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, as well as the AgroFresh unit based at Philadelphia.
Reuters' sources said they believed the two businesses combined could fetch close to $2 billion. The sale of these assets would be in addition to the epoxy business and some chlorine and derivatives assets previously announced as being up for grabs.
Wholly owned Angus Chemical Co manufactures additives used in a variety of products including paints, personal care and cosmetics and life science utilities. It last reported EBITDA of around $115 million and Reuters said it understood the company could be sold for more than 10 times that amount.
AgroFresh, also wholly owned by Dow, makes products used to enhance the freshness, quality and value of fresh produce. Its flagship product is the SmartFresh Quality System. This unit has $50-60 million of annual EBITDA and would also likely be sold for more than 10 times that number, Reuters said.
The businesses, both in the early stage of the sale process, are expected to attract interest from other chemical companies as well as private equity firms.
Activist investor Daniel Loeb has urged Dow to separate its commodities and specialties businesses from its specialty chemicals operations, while CEO Andrew Liveris has repeatedly said that keeping the activities together helps curb costs.
