US Probes HuntsmanClariant Positions
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is reviewing the planned merger of Swiss specialty chemicals producer Clariant with US peer Huntsman, has sent the companies a request for information on two products − sodium isethionate, used in personal care products such as soaps and shampoos – and a polyetheramine product used in certain construction and additive/paint and ink applications.
As these products accounted for less than $24 million in total revenues of each of the two companies in the US market in 2016, Clariant said it is “confident” that the parties will be able to satisfy any FTC concerns on a timeline consistent with the merger, still planned to be completed by the end of this year.
According to Clariant, the regulatory clearance process continues to move forward in other jurisdictions as well.
Clariant and Huntsman announced in May they had agreed to merge in an all-stock deal that would create a leading chemical specialty company named HuntsmanClariant, with sales revenue of roughly $13.2 billion and an enterprise value of about $20 billion. Clariant shareholders would hold a 48% interest in the merged entity, with the remaining 48% to be owned by Huntsman.
US activist investor White Tale, an acquisition vehicle for US hedge funds Corvex and 40 North that together own 10% of Clariant, is seeking to torpedo the merger, saying it lacks strategic rationale and in particular would undermine the Swiss group’s strategy of becoming a pure-play specialty chemicals company.
Clariant has hired US investment bank Goldman Sachs to advise it on how to parry the investors’ thrust.
