Company News
August 28, 2020
Huntsman Takes Loss Divesting TiO2 Stake
Remember when ICI convinced Huntsman to buy the TiO2 business and the Wilton cracker in order to obtain the urethanes business back in 1999? So this divestiture finalizes the total change of Huntsman from a commodity polystyrene business to today’s entity that is now about 60% urethanes . . . A throwback article from the original sale is attached at the bottom.
Huntsman Agrees to Sell its Remaining Interest in Venator Materials PLC
Download as PDF August 28, 2020 5:16pm EDT
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Aug. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with funds advised by SK Capital Partners, LP to sell approximately 42.5 million of the shares it holds in Venator Materials PLC for a cash purchase price of approximately $100 million, including a 30-month option for the sale of the remaining approximate 9.5 million shares it holds at $2.15 per share. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close near year-end.
Together with estimated cash tax savings of approximately $150 million anticipated by offsetting the capital loss on the sale of Venator shares against the capital gain realized on the sale of our chemical intermediates and surfactants businesses that closed this year in January, we expect to secure an aggregate total benefit of approximately $250 million in cash near year end.
Peter Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO, further commented, “I am pleased to have reached an agreement to sell our remaining interest in Venator to SK Capital. We enjoy an ongoing relationship with SK Capital and their co-founder Barry Siadat. They are a great owner and operator of businesses and we are pleased for them to acquire Huntsman’s stake in Venator, a world class functional and specialty TiO2 business. The proceeds to be received will further bolster our balance sheet and only enhance our flexibility for further growth.“
News | May 4, 1999
ICI Divests Urethanes, Titanium Dioxide, Petrochemicals to Huntsman; Refinishing, Industrial Coatings to PPG
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI, London, UK) continues to divest commodity chemicals in order to concentrate on specialty products. Its latest actions include the £1.7 billion sale of polyurethanes, titanium dioxide and selected petrochemicals businesses to Huntsman Chemical Corp. (Salt Lake City, UT). It will also sell most of its global automotive refinishing and industrial coatings units to PPG Industries Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA) for £425 million.
The first transaction includes polyurethanes, titanium dioxide, and paraxylene. It nearly doubles the size of Huntsman, North America’s largest privately owned chemical company, to more than $7.5 billion. The urethanes and titanium dioxide businesses both have solid technology positions and major global markets.
A German automotive refinisher repairs a car using a PPG waterborne system designed to reduce emissions to comply with increasingly stringent environmental regulations. The purchase of ICI’s global automotive refinish and industrial coatings operations augments PPG’s already-strong franchise in this field.
The deal suddenly makes Huntsman a major presence in 11 countries. It also increases Huntsman capacity by 8.7 billion lb/y, to more than 28 billion lb/y, and adds 7000 to its payroll, bringing it to 16,000. The companies expect to close the deal this summer. Huntsman also says it is interested in purchasing ICI’s acrylics business, which is also up for sale.
The purchase involves three segments:
- Polyurethane: ICI operates facilities in Wilton, UK; Rozenburg, the Netherlands; and Geismar, LA; with an aggregate net asset value of £523 million. Total capacity is just over 1 billion lb/y, mostly in MDI-based materials though ICI also manufactures some TDI-based materials as well as polyols. It has 50 sales/representative offices worldwide. In 1998, the business achieved a trading profit (after corporate charges) of £90 million on sales of £816 million.
- Titanium dioxide: ICI’s Tioxide titanium dioxide business has manufacturing sites in Canada, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and Malaysia, and joint ventures in South Africa and the United States. Its total nameplate capacity approaches 1.3 billion lb/yr with an asset value of £661 million. Trading profits were £58 million on sales of £574 million.
- Petrochemicals: Huntsman will purchase ICI’s aromatics business (primarily benzene and paraxylene, which is used in polyester and polyurethane production) and ICI’s share of olefins production (chiefly ethylene and propylene for polymers) from the cracker at Wilton, Teeside. The assets are valued at £96 million. The business lost £27 million on sales of £659 million in 1998.
Huntsman will acquire the businesses by forming a new company, Huntsman ICI Holdings (HICI) in partnership with ICI. HICI will include Huntsman’s US propylene oxide business, which earned $79 million on $339 million sales in 1998. ICI will retain a £300 million investment in the new business for a minimum of three years. It will use the remaining £1.4 billion from the transaction to reduce debt incurred with its £8 billion purchase of Unilever’s specialty chemical business in 1997.
https://www.chemicalonline.com/doc/ici-divests-urethanes-titanium-dioxide-petroc-0001
August 28, 2020
Huntsman Takes Loss Divesting TiO2 Stake
Remember when ICI convinced Huntsman to buy the TiO2 business and the Wilton cracker in order to obtain the urethanes business back in 1999? So this divestiture finalizes the total change of Huntsman from a commodity polystyrene business to today’s entity that is now about 60% urethanes . . . A throwback article from the original sale is attached at the bottom.
Huntsman Agrees to Sell its Remaining Interest in Venator Materials PLC
Download as PDF August 28, 2020 5:16pm EDT
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Aug. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with funds advised by SK Capital Partners, LP to sell approximately 42.5 million of the shares it holds in Venator Materials PLC for a cash purchase price of approximately $100 million, including a 30-month option for the sale of the remaining approximate 9.5 million shares it holds at $2.15 per share. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close near year-end.
Together with estimated cash tax savings of approximately $150 million anticipated by offsetting the capital loss on the sale of Venator shares against the capital gain realized on the sale of our chemical intermediates and surfactants businesses that closed this year in January, we expect to secure an aggregate total benefit of approximately $250 million in cash near year end.
Peter Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO, further commented, “I am pleased to have reached an agreement to sell our remaining interest in Venator to SK Capital. We enjoy an ongoing relationship with SK Capital and their co-founder Barry Siadat. They are a great owner and operator of businesses and we are pleased for them to acquire Huntsman’s stake in Venator, a world class functional and specialty TiO2 business. The proceeds to be received will further bolster our balance sheet and only enhance our flexibility for further growth.“
News | May 4, 1999
ICI Divests Urethanes, Titanium Dioxide, Petrochemicals to Huntsman; Refinishing, Industrial Coatings to PPG
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI, London, UK) continues to divest commodity chemicals in order to concentrate on specialty products. Its latest actions include the £1.7 billion sale of polyurethanes, titanium dioxide and selected petrochemicals businesses to Huntsman Chemical Corp. (Salt Lake City, UT). It will also sell most of its global automotive refinishing and industrial coatings units to PPG Industries Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA) for £425 million.
The first transaction includes polyurethanes, titanium dioxide, and paraxylene. It nearly doubles the size of Huntsman, North America’s largest privately owned chemical company, to more than $7.5 billion. The urethanes and titanium dioxide businesses both have solid technology positions and major global markets.
A German automotive refinisher repairs a car using a PPG waterborne system designed to reduce emissions to comply with increasingly stringent environmental regulations. The purchase of ICI’s global automotive refinish and industrial coatings operations augments PPG’s already-strong franchise in this field.
The deal suddenly makes Huntsman a major presence in 11 countries. It also increases Huntsman capacity by 8.7 billion lb/y, to more than 28 billion lb/y, and adds 7000 to its payroll, bringing it to 16,000. The companies expect to close the deal this summer. Huntsman also says it is interested in purchasing ICI’s acrylics business, which is also up for sale.
The purchase involves three segments:
- Polyurethane: ICI operates facilities in Wilton, UK; Rozenburg, the Netherlands; and Geismar, LA; with an aggregate net asset value of £523 million. Total capacity is just over 1 billion lb/y, mostly in MDI-based materials though ICI also manufactures some TDI-based materials as well as polyols. It has 50 sales/representative offices worldwide. In 1998, the business achieved a trading profit (after corporate charges) of £90 million on sales of £816 million.
- Titanium dioxide: ICI’s Tioxide titanium dioxide business has manufacturing sites in Canada, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and Malaysia, and joint ventures in South Africa and the United States. Its total nameplate capacity approaches 1.3 billion lb/yr with an asset value of £661 million. Trading profits were £58 million on sales of £574 million.
- Petrochemicals: Huntsman will purchase ICI’s aromatics business (primarily benzene and paraxylene, which is used in polyester and polyurethane production) and ICI’s share of olefins production (chiefly ethylene and propylene for polymers) from the cracker at Wilton, Teeside. The assets are valued at £96 million. The business lost £27 million on sales of £659 million in 1998.
Huntsman will acquire the businesses by forming a new company, Huntsman ICI Holdings (HICI) in partnership with ICI. HICI will include Huntsman’s US propylene oxide business, which earned $79 million on $339 million sales in 1998. ICI will retain a £300 million investment in the new business for a minimum of three years. It will use the remaining £1.4 billion from the transaction to reduce debt incurred with its £8 billion purchase of Unilever’s specialty chemical business in 1997.
https://www.chemicalonline.com/doc/ici-divests-urethanes-titanium-dioxide-petroc-0001
August 28, 2020
Recticel Results
Press Release of Recticel – 28 August 2020 First half-year 2020 results – Mitigated COVID-19 impact and key strategic moves
Net sales: from EUR 453.8 million to EUR 374.3 million (-17.5%), including a -0.5% currency effect Adjusted EBITDA: from EUR 34.6 million to EUR 19.0 million (-44.9%) Result of the period (share of the Group): from EUR 16.1 million to EUR 60.1 million, including net capital gain and result for the period from discontinued operations Net financial debt: EUR 43.8 million (including EUR 55.2 million IFRS 16 lease obligations) Closing of the divestments of the participation in Eurofoam and of the Automotive Interiors division
Olivier Chapelle (CEO): “After a good start of the year, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the topline of the Group from mid-March onwards, resulting in a sales decline of -3.0% in 1Q2020 and -32.3% in 2Q2020. After reaching a low point of -51.5% in April 2020 versus April 2019, the sales shortfall versus last year has improved to -35.4% in May and -9.3% in June. This recovery trend continues with July 2020 being -4.1% lower than July 2019.
After having ensured that all sanitary measures had been put in place in all our locations to protect our employees, the Group immediately implemented measures to reduce costs and preserve cash. These measures include the adjustment of the production capacity, the use of temporary unemployment, strict spending and capital expenditure control. As a consequence, the cash consumption of our continued operations and the negative impact on Adjusted EBITDA have been reduced to the maximum extent possible.
On June 30th, the transactions related to the divestment of our participation in the Eurofoam joint venture and to the partial divestment of our Automotive Interiors division have been closed as planned and announced. As a consequence, the Group ended the second quarter with a net positive cash position of EUR 11.4 million (excluding the IFRS 16 lease obligations), and ample financial headroom to focus and engage in the execution of its growth strategy in its higher value added business segments.”
OUTLOOK Subject to there being no further COVID-19 impacts, the dynamics of the recovery observed during the 2nd quarter and the month of July lead the Group to expect the 2H2020 consolidated net sales and Adjusted EBITDA of its retained business to be at the level of 2H2019.
August 28, 2020
Recticel Results
Press Release of Recticel – 28 August 2020 First half-year 2020 results – Mitigated COVID-19 impact and key strategic moves
Net sales: from EUR 453.8 million to EUR 374.3 million (-17.5%), including a -0.5% currency effect Adjusted EBITDA: from EUR 34.6 million to EUR 19.0 million (-44.9%) Result of the period (share of the Group): from EUR 16.1 million to EUR 60.1 million, including net capital gain and result for the period from discontinued operations Net financial debt: EUR 43.8 million (including EUR 55.2 million IFRS 16 lease obligations) Closing of the divestments of the participation in Eurofoam and of the Automotive Interiors division
Olivier Chapelle (CEO): “After a good start of the year, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the topline of the Group from mid-March onwards, resulting in a sales decline of -3.0% in 1Q2020 and -32.3% in 2Q2020. After reaching a low point of -51.5% in April 2020 versus April 2019, the sales shortfall versus last year has improved to -35.4% in May and -9.3% in June. This recovery trend continues with July 2020 being -4.1% lower than July 2019.
After having ensured that all sanitary measures had been put in place in all our locations to protect our employees, the Group immediately implemented measures to reduce costs and preserve cash. These measures include the adjustment of the production capacity, the use of temporary unemployment, strict spending and capital expenditure control. As a consequence, the cash consumption of our continued operations and the negative impact on Adjusted EBITDA have been reduced to the maximum extent possible.
On June 30th, the transactions related to the divestment of our participation in the Eurofoam joint venture and to the partial divestment of our Automotive Interiors division have been closed as planned and announced. As a consequence, the Group ended the second quarter with a net positive cash position of EUR 11.4 million (excluding the IFRS 16 lease obligations), and ample financial headroom to focus and engage in the execution of its growth strategy in its higher value added business segments.”
OUTLOOK Subject to there being no further COVID-19 impacts, the dynamics of the recovery observed during the 2nd quarter and the month of July lead the Group to expect the 2H2020 consolidated net sales and Adjusted EBITDA of its retained business to be at the level of 2H2019.
August 26, 2020
Casper Names CFO
Casper Appoints Michael Monahan as Chief Financial Officer
Wed August 26, 2020 6:30 AM|Business Wire|About: CSPR
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Casper Sleep Inc. (CSPR) (“Casper”) (NYSE: CSPR), the award-winning sleep company, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Michael Monahan as Chief Financial Officer, effective August 31, 2020. Casper also announced that its Interim Chief Financial Officer Stuart Brown has resigned, effective August 31, 2020, but will continue to support the Company as a consultant during the transition period.
Michael joins Casper with more than 20 years of financial and operational leadership experience for both public and privately held companies. Most recently, Michael served as CFO of HEXO Corp., and prior to that he was CFO of Nutrisystem, Inc. (NTRI) During his tenure at Nutrisystem, Michael oversaw the growth of the company’s market capitalization from approximately $250 million to $1.3 billion before the company’s sale to Tivity Health, Inc., a publicly-traded provider of health improvement programs. Michael also previously served as CFO of PetroChoice Holdings, Inc. during a period of significant organic and acquisitive growth that resulted in the successful sale of the company to private equity investors.
Philip Krim, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Casper, commented, “Michael will be an invaluable asset to our leadership team as Casper continues to grow and advance towards profitability. His proven track record of driving financial and operational success for a number of companies gives us even more confidence in our trajectory ahead.”
“As people are investing in sleep more than ever, the opportunities for Casper are tremendous with a significant runway for growth,” said Michael Monahan. “I look forward to partnering with Philip and the leadership team to execute on the company’s strategic goals, drive profitable growth, and deliver value to shareholders.”
“I’d like to thank Stuart for his service as Interim CFO, where he played an important role in guiding Casper’s shift into the public markets. Furthermore, we appreciate that Stuart has agreed to work with Michael to ensure a seamless transition,” said Philip Krim.
About Casper
Casper believes everyone should sleep better. The Sleep Company has a full portfolio of obsessively engineered sleep products—including mattresses, pillows, bedding, and furniture—designed in-house by the Company’s award-winning R&D team at Casper Labs in San Francisco. In addition to its e-commerce business, Casper owns and operates Sleep Shops across North America and its products are available at a growing list of retailers.
https://seekingalpha.com/pr/17983982-casper-appoints-michael-monahan-chief-financial-officer
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