Huntsman to buy Ampac’s Specialty Chemicals Business

Huntsman Family Investments (HFI) has agreed to acquire American Pacific Corp.’s specialty chemicals business from global investment bank H.I.G. Capital, which acquired the company in Feb. 2014 for around $392 million. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

American Pacific primarily supplies rocket-grade ammonium perchlorate used in solid propellant rockets, booster motors and missiles used by the US Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The company also makes Halotron, a fire extinguishing agent which is an alternative to halon-based products, along with sodium azide, a pharmaceutical intermediate.  It is located in Cedar City, Utah, US, with corporate offices in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Paul Huntsman, president and CEO of HFI, described the acquisition as “an ideal investment” and said it builds upon its longstanding heritage in the chemicals industry.

HFI is the private investment platform for the family of Jon M. Huntsman, Sr., the founder and chairman of Huntsman Corp.