PRINT THIS PAGE

Blackstone-backed Celanese buys emulsion polymer business Vinamul

German chemicals business Celanese, taken private by US buy-out firm Blackstone at the start of this year, has agreed to buy Vinamul Polymers, part of the National Starch and Chemical Company, for $208m. NSC is a subsidiary of Imperial Chemical Industries PLC. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.

The acquisition is expected to be financed through an amendment and expansion of the senior credit facilities of a Celanese Corporation subsidiary.

David Weidman, CEO-Designate of Celanese Corporation, the global parent for the Celanese businesses, said: 'This acquisition is the latest development in a strategy of diversifying our product offering with higher-value chemicals that are customised for end-use applications.'

Vinamul Polymers has approximately 600 employees and operates manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. For the year ended December 31, 2003, the company had sales of $335m, of which $97m were internal sales to other NSC and ICI businesses.

Celanese's current emulsion polymers business, which was acquired from Clariant in 2002, is primarily focused on Europe, while Vinamul includes complementary positions in both Europe and North America.

Celanese is planning a $750m initial public offering to finance a special dividend and to retire some of its debt. Blackstone has already repaid a big chunk of its initial equity investment by means of a special dividend earlier this year.

Copyright © 2004 AltAssets