Huntsman Corp, the US chemicals group, is selling two of its businesses to Thailand-based petrochemicals company Indorama Ventures for more than USD2bn, said FT.

Texas-based Huntsman said in a statement late on Wednesday that the Bangkok-listed group would pay $2bn in cash and transfer about $76m of net underfunded pension and other liabilities to buy its chemical intermediaries and surfactants divisions, which make ingredients for lubricants and cleaning products.

As part of the deal, Indorama will acquire Huntsman manufacturing facilities in Texas, India and Australia. 

Peter Huntsman, the US group’s chief executive, said that the deal “further transforms Huntsman’s balance sheet and future”, and was in line with its strategy of focusing more on its downstream and specialty businesses. Huntsman, with revenues of more than USD9bn last year, makes and markets differentiated and specialty chemicals, and has business in about 30 countries. 

In 2017, it was forced to call off a USD20bn tie-up with Switzerland’s Clariant due to investor opposition, during a time of significant consolidation in the chemicals industry.

Indorama Ventures is part of Singapore-based Indorama Corp. The group is headed by the Indian-born Indonesian billionaire Sri Prakash Lohia and makes a range of petrochemical products, including PET, packaging, fibers, and recycled products.

Aloke Lohia, group chief executive of Indorama Ventures, said: “This acquisition is a momentous propellant in our journey towards our stated goal of being a global, diversified chemicals company with multiple, and related earnings streams."

Source: MRC