| From: richardred | 7/19/2012 1:07:31 AM | | | | | | Olin Corp bulks up higher-value chemicals with $328 mln buy
Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:31pm EDT
* Deal to to buy K.A. Steel Chemicals to increase bleach, hydrochloric acid capacity
* Olin says acquisition will broaden customer base
* Says will add to earnings, cash flow immediately after closing at end of Q3
July 18 (Reuters) - Chemical and ammunition maker Olin Corp struck a deal to buy privately held K.A. Steel Chemicals Inc for $328 million in cash as it shifts focus to higher-value products such as bleach, hydrochloric acid and potassium hydroxide.
The acquisition, Olin's biggest to date, will give the company the opportunity to boost sales of hydrochloric acid, which is in short supply because of strong demand from the oil and gas industry. The acid is used in hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", to extract oil and gas from tight formations.
Olin's hydrochloric acid shipments increased 10 percent in the first quarter.
The company said the deal will also expand its bleach manufacturing capacity by about 20 percent.
Olin's McIntosh, Alabama bleach plant, which began operations in the first quarter, boosted the company's bleach-making capacity by about 15 percent and the company plans to open two more plants in the fourth quarter.
About 71 percent of Olin's 2011 sales came from its Chlor Alkali products segment, which makes chlorine, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, bleach products and potassium hydroxide.
The company acquired PolyOne Corp's 50 percent interest in the SunBelt Chlor Alkali partnership last year.
Clayton, Missouri-based Olin said in April it expected earnings at its Chlor Alkali segment to rise in the second quarter on stronger demand for bleach and chlorine, although this would be partially offset by lower prices.
Olin increased prices for chlorine and caustic soda in the first quarter, but has said it is encountering resistance from customers. The company said the latest deal will help broaden its customer base.
LESS CYCLICAL
The acquisition increases the amount of Chlor Alkali capacity that can be sold as value-added products and will improve profitability across the economic cycle, a company executive said on a conference call with analysts.
Leading chemical companies such as Dow Chemical Co, German conglomerate BASF SE and Ashland Inc are increasing focus on specialty chemicals, demand for which tends to be resilient during economic downturns.
Cabot Corp signed a $1.1 billion deal last month to buy privately held Dutch chemical company Norit NV reduce the cyclical nature of its business.
Lemont, Illinois-based K. A. Steel distributes caustic soda and manufactures bleach. It had revenue of $435 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $31 million in 2011, Olin said.
Olin said it expects the deal with K.A. Steel to close by the end of the third quarter, after which it will immediately add to both its earnings and cash flow.
The company will finance the deal with cash on hand, debt and by issuing new senior notes.
Olin's shares, which have risen about 7 percent so far this year, were up 2 percent at $21.38 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
reuters.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (123) | 7/19/2012 1:20:48 PM | | From: richardred | | | | PPG to merge chemicals unit with Georgia Gulf
Pittsburgh Business Times by Paul J. Gough, Web Producer Date: Thursday, July 19, 2012, 9:43am EDT
PPG Industries' commodity chemicals business will be merged with Atlanta-based Georgia Gulf Corp. in a transaction worth up to $2.1 billion.
PPG Industries Inc. (NYSE: PPG) said that the commodity chemicals business will be spun off from the rest of the Pittsburgh-based company to create a new company then merged with Georgia Gulf or a subsidiary to create a $5 billion company with the third largest chlor-alkali manufacturer in North America.
PPG will receive $900 million in cash, and the deal also includes $95 million of assumed debt, $87 million in minority interest. PPG shareholders will receive a total of $1 billion in shares in Georgia Gulf (NYSE: GGC) and own about 50.5 percent of the merged company; Georgia Gulf shareholders will own 49.5 percent.
The deal is expected to be concluded by early next year.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement as this transaction is another major step in our strategic transformation into a more focused coatings and specialty products company," said PPG Chairman/CEO Charles E. Bunch in a prepared statement. "This is a unique opportunity to create significant value for PPG shareholders and to share in synergies that would not be available to PPG’s commodity chemicals business on its own.”
"The combined company will be a leading integrated chemicals and building products company that we believe will benefit from significant integration and scale, a broad portfolio of downstream products, as well as the regional advantage of low-cost North American natural gas," said Georgia Gulf President/CEO Paul Carrico in a prepared statement.
Carrico will be president and CEO of the new company with current PPG commodity chemicals and Georgia Gulf employees in senior management. Georgia Gulf's new board will have eight current Georgia Gulf members and three others that include Michael H. McGarry, senior vice president of PPG's commodity chemicals business.
bizjournals.com |
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| From: richardred | 6/3/2013 9:35:46 AM | | | | | | India's Birla Chemicals to acquire Solaris Chemtech's chlor-alkali assets 6:23 AM MDT | June 3, 2013 | Francinia Protti-Alvarez
Aditya Birla Chemicals (ABC; Mumbai), a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group, approved the acquisition of the chlor-alkali and phosphoric acid division of Solaris Chemtech Industries (Gurgaon, India), a subsidiary of the Avantha Group (New Delhi), for a cash consideration of 1.53 billion rupees ($26.9 million), ABC has announced. "This strategic acquisition further strengthens our position in the chlor-alkali business. It will take our chlor-alkali business on a higher growth trajectory and marks our entry into a new market segment, phosphoric acid.
chemweek.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (126) | 12/15/2013 11:31:14 AM | | From: richardred | | | | France's KemOne receives two takeover bids at court hearing
London (Platts)--13Dec2013/706 am EST/1206 GMT
France's KemOne has received two takeover bids, the company confirmed late Thursday in a statement.
Private buyout firm OpenGate Capital and private individual Alain de Krassny confirmed their takeover bids at a hearing held Thursday at the Commercial Court of Lyon.
There will be a further court hearing Wednesday and the acquirer of KemOne will be selected on this date, the company said.
KemOne SAS, an upstream business that makes chlorine, caustic soda and PVC, was put into administration by the commercial court of Lyon on March 27.
platts.com |
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| From: richardred | 11/30/2014 10:23:25 PM | | | | | | Hanwha Chemical drops review of buying Dow Chemical chlorine biz.SEOUL, Dec 1 (Reuters) - South Korea's Hanwha Chemical is no longer considering buying parts of Dow Chemical's chloro-alkali business, a spokesman for Hanwha Group said on Monday.
South Korea's Hanwha Chemical had picked Credit Suisse to advise on possible purchases from Dow Chemical's chloro-alkali business but its interest is still in the early stages, Hanwha said earlier this year.
Hanwha Chemical and two group affiliates said it will buy stakes in Samsung Group's four chemical and defence firms for 1.9 trillion won ($1.72 billion) last week.
The Hanwha spokesman said the stake purchases in Samsung firms are expected to boost its petrochemical business, no longer making it necessary to consider Dow Chemical's businesses.
finance.yahoo.com |
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| From: richardred | 3/27/2015 9:04:29 AM | | | | | | OLIN trading around 35 premarket on the announcement.
Dow Chemical, Olin in $5B cash-and-stock deal
Dow Chemical to separate part of business and combine it with Olin in $5B cash-and-stock deal
Associated Press
40 minutes ago
MIDLAND, Mich. (AP) -- Dow Chemical is breaking off a significant part of its chlorine operations in a deal with Olin Corp. valued at $5 billion.
Dow has been under pressure from the hedge fund Third Point LLC to split its specialty chemical and petrochemical businesses.
Dow CEO and Chairman Andrew Liveris said in a statement that the Olin deal has helped the Midland, Michigan-based company exceed its target to divest $7 billion to $8.5 billion of non-strategic businesses and assets.
Its stock rose more than 5 percent in Friday premarket trading.
Dow said that it would join its chlor-alkali and downstream derivatives businesses with Olin Corp. in a cash-and-stock transaction. The transaction includes Dow's U.S. Gulf Coast chlor-alkali and vinyl, global chlorinated organics and global epoxy businesses.
The deal includes $2 billion of cash and cash equivalents to be paid to Dow; an estimated $2.2 billion in Olin common stock and about $800 million of pension assumptions and other liabilities.
The new company will have annual revenue of nearly $7 billion.
Shareholders of Dow Chemical Co. will receive about 50.5 percent of Olin's stock, with existing Olin shareholders owning about 49.5 percent.
Clayton, Missouri-based Olin said that it anticipates annual cost savings of at least $200 million within three years. Joseph Rupp will remain as Olin's CEO. Its board will include the existing nine Olin directors and three new members to be designated by Dow.
Shares of Olin surged more than 26 percent before the market open.
The deal, which is targeted to close by year's end, still needs approval from Olin shareholders.
Dow and Olin also announced a separate, 20-year long-term capacity rights agreement for the supply of ethylene by Dow to Olin.
finance.yahoo.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (131) | 3/27/2015 9:08:31 AM | | From: richardred | | | | | What I find most interesting is OXY and Olin wanted to combine their CA operations many years ago. The FTC ruled against it. It will be interesting to see if this bigger combo deal gets FTC approval. |
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