Chemtura Corp (fka CHMT)

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Chemtura receives bids from at least two buyers for whole company; discourages interest for parts for time being - sources
By Michael Ross and Soma Biswas in New York

Published: February 19 2008 22:17 | Last updated: February 19 2008 22:17


This article is provided to FT.com readers by dealReporter—a news service focused on providing insightful intelligence on event driven situations to investors. www.dealreporter.com

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Chemtura, the specialty chemicals company, recently received at least two bids from sponsors interested in acquiring it in its entirety, a person claiming knowledge of the situation told dealReporter. If bids for the entire business are unsatisfactory, however, the company could look at divesting its pool chemicals and crop protection businesses separately, according to two other people claiming knowledge.

Chemtura has seen significant interest in parts of the business, including crop protection and pool chemicals, but discouraged bids for parts for now, the first person said.

Ripplewood and a consortium including Blackstone and Apollo are both thought to have submitted bids, the first person said. A source close to Ripplewood said the firm had been looking at Chemtura for a year, but did not offer further details. Additionally, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is also thought to be involved in the process, said two of the people claiming knowledge of the process, although neither person said specifically that Goldman had put in a bid last week.

The Blackstone/Apollo consortium is working with Bill Joyce, former CEO of Nalco, the first person said. In September 2003, Nalco was sold to a consortium including Blackstone, Apollo and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners for USD 4.35bn.

Goldman Sachs has a deal pending to buy out another listed chemical company Myers Industries, but that deal has been clouded by a significant delay.

On 18 December 2007, Chemtura retained Merrill Lynch to explore strategic alternatives. The announcement came after the company had informally marketed itself to buyers for about a year, as previously reported by this news service.

Chemtura did not return calls seeking comment. It has a market cap of USD 1.74bn. Officials at Blackstone, Apollo, GSC and Ripplewood didn’t return calls either.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9ca2f194-df31-11dc-91d4-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html