Huntsman completes sale of European commodities business
US-based chemical company Huntsman Corporation has completed the sale of its UK-based European commodity chemicals business to Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), involving a total divestment value of $810 million.
According to the company, "Through positive operating cash flows, funds raised in our IPO, and the proceeds from this transaction and the previously completed sale of our US Butadiene and MTBE business, the company has generated funds sufficient to reduce our net debt by $2.6 billion over the past two years. We now derive over 80% of our sales from our differentiated chemical products, which are significantly less cyclical, less energy dependent, and higher margin businesses than commodity chemicals."
The company also plans to sell its North American Polymers and Base Chemicals businesses as it has decided to focus on differentiated businesses—such as the Textile Effects business acquired from Ciba earlier this year—in order to provide the company with a higher-margin portfolio of products and a stronger balance sheet going forward.
Huntsman's Teesside-based Pigments division and the Wilton-based aniline and nitrobenzene operations of its Polyurethanes division were not included in the transaction.
