The deal, which remains subject to satisfying regulatory requirements and other customary closing conditions, will give Avient after-tax proceeds of roughly $750 million that will be used to pay down near-term maturing debt.

The agreement with H.I.G. Capital follows Avient’s announcement in April that it was exploring a sale. “As expected, there were multiple buyers interested in acquiring the distribution business, and it was a competitive process,” said Avient chairman, president and CEO Robert Patterson. "Ultimately, we selected H.I.G. Capital based on the strength of their proposal, which values the business at approximately 10x LTM EBITDA and includes no financing contingencies." 

Patterson added that both the sale and the acquisition of DSM Protective Materials in April were the next steps in its specialty transformation that began over a decade ago. “We are excited about our future as a pure play specialty formulator of sustainable solutions," he said.  

Avient paid $1.485 billion for the DSM business, which included the Dyneema fiber brand, adding six production plants, four R&D centers and approximately 1,000 employees located around the world. 

Avient was formerly known as PolyOne, which changed its name in November 2020 after buying Clariant’s color masterbatch businesses for $1.56 billion.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist