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16 February 2011
Clariant’s acquisition of Germany-based specialty and catalysts firm Sud-Chemie will be the first step in positioning the Switzerland-based chemical producer for future growth, Clariant’s CEO said on Wednesday.
Clariant agreed to acquire a majority stake in Sud-Chemie for €2.0bn ($2.7bn), or Swiss francs (Swfr) 2.5bn.
“The plan to acquire Sud-Chemie is an exciting first step to grow our company from the solid base we have created in the last two years,” Clariant CEO Hariolf Kottmann said.
“Our company is well prepared for profitable growth, based on the solid foundation we have created in the last two years. Going for growth also means we will invest a substantial amount of money in the next few quarters and years,” he added.
Clariant would be acquiring slightly more than 95% of Sud-Chemie, 50.4% of which would be bought from One Equity Partners at €121/share, the company said in a statement.
The rest of the shares would be acquired from family shareholders through a share swap. These shareholders control around 46% of Sud-Chemie.
“The vast majority of the Sud-Chemie family shareholders will swap their shares into Clariant shares at a ratio of 1:8.84,” the statement said.
The CEO said the share exchange was worth Swfr700m (€538m).
As part of the acquisition financing, Kottmann said Clariant would follow a conservative financing policy and intended to finance the transaction with a balanced mix of new equity, debt and cash: a Swfr400m rights issue, secure Swfr900m in debt financing and Swfr500m in cash.
Kottmann said that Sud-Chemie brings two attractive businesses with high margins to Clariant’s current portfolio; the units operate in the areas of process catalysts and absorbents. Future technologies such as lithium-ion battery materials or second-generation bioethanol would also offer opportunities for future growth.
“This ideally meets our ambitions to transform Clariant into an innovation-driven speciality chemicals company. Being less exposed to the normal business cycles, the acquisition improves our quality of earnings going forward,” Kottman said.
Clariant would also be less exposed to raw material price volatility though the deal, he added.
With the acquisition, Clariant would also gain better access to emerging markets and the Middle East, he said.
In addition, Kottmann said Sud-Chemie would add around Swfr1.6bn, or about 20%, to Clariant’s sales. He said the acquisition would be earnings accretive by 2013.
“Sud-Chemie’s businesses would be managed as separate business units within our group and will share the current Clariant corporate platform and infrastructure,” he added.
Clariant would also integrate the two group’s administrative functions, which was expected to lead to savings of around €25m, Kottmann said.
The transaction was expected to be completed in the first half of this year, subject to regulatory and anti-trust approvals.
Earlier on Wednesday, Clariant posted a full-year 2010 net profit of Swfr191m, compared with a net loss of Swfr194m in 2009, while its sales last year increased 13% to Swfr7.12bn.
Sud-Chemie had €1.23bn in turnover in 2010, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at €191m, according to Clariant.
Sud-Chemie generated an EBITDA margin of 15.6% last year, it added.
Source: www.icis.com
Clariant’s acquisition of Germany-based specialty and catalysts firm Sud-Chemie will be the first step in positioning the Switzerland-based chemical producer for future growth, Clariant’s CEO said on Wednesday.
Clariant agreed to acquire a majority stake in Sud-Chemie for €2.0bn ($2.7bn), or Swiss francs (Swfr) 2.5bn.
“The plan to acquire Sud-Chemie is an exciting first step to grow our company from the solid base we have created in the last two years,” Clariant CEO Hariolf Kottmann said.
“Our company is well prepared for profitable growth, based on the solid foundation we have created in the last two years. Going for growth also means we will invest a substantial amount of money in the next few quarters and years,” he added.
Clariant would be acquiring slightly more than 95% of Sud-Chemie, 50.4% of which would be bought from One Equity Partners at €121/share, the company said in a statement.
The rest of the shares would be acquired from family shareholders through a share swap. These shareholders control around 46% of Sud-Chemie.
“The vast majority of the Sud-Chemie family shareholders will swap their shares into Clariant shares at a ratio of 1:8.84,” the statement said.
The CEO said the share exchange was worth Swfr700m (€538m).
As part of the acquisition financing, Kottmann said Clariant would follow a conservative financing policy and intended to finance the transaction with a balanced mix of new equity, debt and cash: a Swfr400m rights issue, secure Swfr900m in debt financing and Swfr500m in cash.
Kottmann said that Sud-Chemie brings two attractive businesses with high margins to Clariant’s current portfolio; the units operate in the areas of process catalysts and absorbents. Future technologies such as lithium-ion battery materials or second-generation bioethanol would also offer opportunities for future growth.
“This ideally meets our ambitions to transform Clariant into an innovation-driven speciality chemicals company. Being less exposed to the normal business cycles, the acquisition improves our quality of earnings going forward,” Kottman said.
Clariant would also be less exposed to raw material price volatility though the deal, he added.
With the acquisition, Clariant would also gain better access to emerging markets and the Middle East, he said.
In addition, Kottmann said Sud-Chemie would add around Swfr1.6bn, or about 20%, to Clariant’s sales. He said the acquisition would be earnings accretive by 2013.
“Sud-Chemie’s businesses would be managed as separate business units within our group and will share the current Clariant corporate platform and infrastructure,” he added.
Clariant would also integrate the two group’s administrative functions, which was expected to lead to savings of around €25m, Kottmann said.
The transaction was expected to be completed in the first half of this year, subject to regulatory and anti-trust approvals.
Earlier on Wednesday, Clariant posted a full-year 2010 net profit of Swfr191m, compared with a net loss of Swfr194m in 2009, while its sales last year increased 13% to Swfr7.12bn.
Sud-Chemie had €1.23bn in turnover in 2010, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at €191m, according to Clariant.
Sud-Chemie generated an EBITDA margin of 15.6% last year, it added.
Source: www.icis.com
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