Chemical companies Clariant, Huntsman to merge
Two chemical companies, Switzerland-based Clariant and US-based Huntsman Corporation, on Tuesday announced that their boards of directors had unanimously approved a definitive agreement to combine in a merger of equals through an all-stock transaction, according to the company press release on Tuesday.
The merged company will be named HuntsmanClariant.
On a pro forma 2016 basis, the combination of both companies will create a global speciality chemical company with annual sales of about US$13.2 billion (Bt450 billion), an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of $2.3 billion and a combined enterprise value of about $20 billion at the time of the announcement.
The component companies say the combined entity will benefit from each other’s strengths. It will have a significantly improved growth profile in highly attractive end markets and geographies.
HuntsmanClariant will leverage shared knowledge in sustainability and boast a much stronger joint innovation platform, the two firms say. This will enable the development of new products in order to deliver superior returns and drive shareholder value.
“This is the perfect deal at the right time. Clariant and Huntsman are joining forces to gain much broader global reach, create more sustained innovation power and achieve new growth opportunities,” said Hariolf Kottmann, chief executive of Clariant.
“This is in the best interest of all of our stakeholders. Peter Huntsman [president and CEO of Huntsman Corp] and I share the same strategic vision and I look forward to working with him.”
