Venator, the Huntsman spinoff that holds the family-owned business’s former titanium dioxide activities, has filed for protection from creditors under the US Chapter 11 bankruptcy code.
Venator’s second-largest investor, Czech private equity fund J&T MS 1 SICAV, is asking for a seat on the board of the UK-headquartered multinational pigments and additives producer, citing major concerns about its financial underperformance and massive shareholder value destruction.
US titanium dioxide pigments and performance additives producer Venator Materials has agreed to sell its iron oxide business to Hong Kong’s Cathay Industries for an enterprise value of $140 million. The transaction is expected to close by the end of quarter one 2023.
Venator Materials has won a $75 million lawsuit against Tronox in a case over a break fee contained in an exclusivity agreement entered into in July 2018 relating to the latter’s merger with Cristal.
Huntsman has agreed to sell about 42.5 million shares in Venator Materials – representing just below 40% of Venator’s outstanding shares – to private equity group SK Capital Partners for $100 million cash. The deal includes a 30-month option at $2.15/share for the remaining 9.5 million shares that Huntsman owns.
