Huntsman and Clariant unveil $20bn tie-up
All-stock merger of US and Swiss chemicals groups to make it formidable player
Huntsman Corporation and Switzerland’s Clariant have unveiled a multibillion dollar all-stock cross-border merger, allowing the two speciality chemicals companies to form a formidable industry challenger.
Clariant investors will control about 52 per cent of the combined group, while Huntsman shareholders will own the remainder, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.
Peter Huntsman, chief executive and a son of the company’s founder and chairman Jon Huntsman Sr, will lead the new company, while Clariant’s head Hariolf Kottmann becomes its chairman.
The business will be called HuntsmanClariant, with a combined enterprise value of approximately $20bn, according to the statement.
“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 Mr Kottmann.
It is the latest high-profile transaction across the diversified chemicals sector, where companies are striking ever more aggressive deals to find new ways to slash costs and gain greater scale of their segments.
Mr Huntsman Sr, a Mormon, founded the company, which was focused on styrofoam packing, with his brother in 1970 after leaving a junior role in the Nixon White House. Soon after, he famously managed to snag McDonald’s as a client, which was looking for a container to hold its newly-launched Big Mac hamburgers.
The success of the business spawned a family dynasty in Utah, where another one of Mr Huntsman’s sons, Jon, became the state’s governor and a presidential candidate in 2012.
Today the business employs 15,000 people across a number of speciality chemical segments, including polyurethanes and advanced materials. It listed in 2005 and has a market value of $6.4bn and a net debt of just under $4bn.
Clariant was formed in 1995, having been spun off from the larger chemicals group Sandoz. It employs just over 17,000 people and has a market value of €6.7bn and net debt of about €1.5bn. The company has been the subject of endless deal speculation in recent years, with larger rivals such as Germany’s Evonik having considered takeover approaches.