Company News
June 14, 2023
Carpenter Comments on Acquisition of Recticel’s Engineered Foams Division
Carpenter Co., one of the world’s largest producers of comfort products, is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Recticel N.V.’s Engineered Foams Division, which includes the former Foam Partner and Otto Bock operations. The acquisition creates the world’s largest vertically integrated manufacturer of polyurethane foams and specialty polymer products.
Recticel, a Belgian company with origins tracing back to 1778, comprises people, offices and production facilities in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. The transaction allows Carpenter to expand its geographic footprint, explore new product lines and add new capabilities to the industry leader.
Brad Beauchamp, CEO of Carpenter Co., expressed, “We are very excited to welcome the employees of Recticel, Foam Partner and Otto Bock into Carpenter. We believe that combining these great businesses with ours will result in the best flexible foam company throughout all market segments and geographic locations. We believe that this acquisition will bring additional innovations in polyurethane foam beyond our industry leading materials like Serene® foam, Hybrid TheraGel™ memory foam and others. Recticel is also known for their leadership in sustainability and recycling of foam materials and we expect that to pair very well with our own developments on those issues that are facing the industry.”
Both Carpenter and Recticel have demonstrated a commitment to innovation, sustainability and continuous improvement. United together, the combined organization will work towards a shared purpose: to enhance the quality of life for everyone through its products and services.
June 14, 2023
Recticel Completes Sale of Engineered Foams to Carpenter
Recticel becomes a pure insulation player after completing the divestment of its Engineered Foams activities on 12 and 13 June 2023
Regulated information, Brussels, 14/06/2023 — 06:59 CET, 14.06.2023
- Changes in transaction perimeter: Recticel keeps The Soundcoat Company Inc. (USA – acoustic and thermal insulation) and its 33% participation in Orsa Foam S.p.A. (Italy)
- Recticel Ltd. (UK Comfort Foams) sold to GIL Investments Ltd.
- Revised Enterprise Value of EUR 454.1 million
- Cash proceeds of EUR 427.0 million
- Reduction of IFRS16 lease debt by EUR 23.9 million, and reduction of other provisions and liabilities by EUR 30.6 million
- The transaction represents a 7.5 x multiple on the average 2021 and 2022 Adjusted EBITDA pertaining to the divested perimeter
Recticel signed a binding agreement (see press release dd. 07 December 2021) to sell its Engineered Foams activities to US-based Carpenter Co., subject to customary closing conditions, including anti-trust clearance. Carpenter and Recticel received such clearance from the UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) on 12 April 2023, and have subsequently signed the divestment of the two UK Comfort foam facilities (remedies meeting CMA requirements) to GIL Investments Ltd. on 17 April 2023 (see press release dd. 28 April 2023). All conditions precedent being met, Carpenter Co. and Recticel could progress to closing the main transaction.
June 13, 2023
Lanxess Increases Benzyl Alcohol Capacity
LANXESS doubles capacity for high-purity benzyl alcohol in North America
MOSCOW (MRC) — LANXESS has doubled its production capacity for benzyl alcohol at its site in Kalama, WA, US, to support the growth of its established customer base in the Americas, said the company.
The capacity expansion is the result of various technical upgrades. LANXESS also produces benzyl alcohol at its sites in Krefeld-Uerdingen (Germany), Botlek (Netherlands), and Nagda (India).
The LANXESS business unit Flavors & Fragrances develops and produces one of the world’s broadest portfolio of fragrances and flavours, preservatives, and animal nutrition products. Its substances are found in various everyday consumables, such as cosmetics and personal care products, detergents and cleaning agents, beverages, baked goods, candles, oils, and animal feed.
The portfolio also includes speciality chemicals for industrial applications, including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals or the construction industry. The business unit operates production sites in five locations on three continents. The sites are “ISCC Plus” certified. Through the use of green electricity and sustainable raw materials, these sites will produce mass balance certified renewable alternatives for the entire product portfolio by end-2023, reflecting the business unit’s strong commitment to sustainability. The business unit has around 750 employees and is part of LANXESS’ Consumer Protection segment which generated sales of about EUR 2.4 bn in 2022.
We remind, LANXESS will be at the Battery Show Europe showcasing its portfolio for batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles, said the company. The event in Stuttgart is Europe’s largest trade fair for cutting-edge technologies and production processes in this fast-growing segment.
June 13, 2023
Possible SKpucore Divestiture by SKC
Korea’s SKC in talks to sell polyol subsidiary SK pucore to private equity firm
0
 |
| [Courtesy of SKC] |
SKC Corp., a South Korean polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film manufacturer, will sell its polyol subsidiary SK pucore Co. to a private equity firm in a move to liquidate assets to focus on chips and secondary battery materials business.
According to multiple sources from the investment bank industry on Monday, SKC is currently in talks to sell SK pycore to Glenwood Private Equity for about 500 billion won ($390 million).
The two companies recently signed a memorandum of understanding and are expected to sign a contract soon after conducting due diligence.
Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers is known to lead the sales as financial adviser of the buyer.
The deal is expected to be valued at about 10 times the last year‘s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which stood at 48.8 billion won.
SK pucore, formerly MCNS, which was jointly established by SKC and Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals Inc. in 2015, produces polyols, a raw material for polyurethane.
The partnership with Mitsui Chemicals ended in 2021 and the company changed its name. SK pucore has a dominant position in the domestic polyol market. Last year, it accounted for 40 percent of the entire market.
The sale comes as SKC is hoping to stack cash for investments and improve financial health.
SKC announced to invest 1.8 trillion won to strengthen its semiconductor and secondary battery materials business capacity. SKC is also in the process of acquiring semiconductor testing company ISC Co. for about 400 billion won.
SKC’s net debt to EBITDA was more than 6 times in the first quarter of this year, up from 3.5 times in 2021. The company’s net debt stood at 3.6 trillion won as of the first quarter.
Glenwood PE is a mid-sized private equity fund manager in Korea. It recently acquired the diagnostics division of LG Chem Ltd. and is the second-largest shareholder of Hanwha Advanced Materials Corp. and CJ Olive Young Corp.
Glenwood PE, in particular, manages PI Advanced Materials Co., which it previously acquired from SKC. The latest deal is expected to create synergy.
Polyurethanes manufactured through SK pucore’s flagship product, polyols, are utilized in a wide range of downstream industries, including automotive, fashion, electronics, and medical devices.
The company has more than 450 customers, more than 130 distribution partners, and production facilities in five countries. Last year, SK pucore raised 32.4 billion won in operating profit on sales of 720.6 billion won.
The company has secured future growth engines recently by developing eco-friendly polyol products. Customers return waste polyols to SK pucore, and the company makes recycled polyols from them and supplies them back to customers. The company is also accelerating the production of bio-polyols based on vegetable oils.
The investment bank industry is observing whether SKC will continue to secure more assets to build a portfolio that centers on new businesses.
“This year, we plan to strengthen the competitiveness of our core businesses by expanding global expansion and sales of copper foil and increasing the proportion of high-value-added products in our semiconductor and chemical businesses,” said SKC Chief Executive Officer Park Won-cheol in March.
“We will expand new growth businesses through active additional mergers and acquisitions.”
The company also sold its film division to private equity firm Hahn & Company for 1.6 trillion won last year.
Some critics, however, raise concerns about the sales being carried out by SKC as the M&A market is still unstable.
“We are concerned that the company is selling assets in a rush when the buyer has more power,” said an industry insider. “The company is desperate to secure liquidity but it should also be considered that it may send an excessive signal to the market that SKC’s financial situation is unstable.”
June 7, 2023
SSB Reorganization Plan Approved
US mattress maker Serta Simmons receives Chapter 11 plan approval
Story by Reuters • Yesterday 10:57 PM
June 6 (Reuters) – Mattress maker Serta Simmons Bedding on Tuesday said that its Chapter 11 reorganization plan has been confirmed by a U.S. bankruptcy court, bringing the bedding company one step closer to emerging from bankruptcy.
The Doraville, Georgia-based company, whose roots date to 1870, filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in January with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas, in a bid to eliminate most of its debt.
The mattress manufacturer, which accounts for nearly one-fifth of U.S. bedding sales and whose brands include Serta, Simmons, Beautyrest, and Tuft & Needle, said it is operating normally as usual.
Serta Simmons, backed by Apollo Global Management and Gamut Capital Management through its restructuring plan aims to reduce its debt to $315 million from $1.9 billion, in addition to which it projects that the company’s annual cash interest expense will fall by more than $100 million.
The company during the COVID-19 pandemic had added $200 million of new capital to weather higher raw material costs and supply chain disruptions.
However, significant amounts of debt maturing in 2023 have made the company’s capital structure unsustainable, necessitating a comprehensive restructuring that is now supported by more than three-quarters of its key lenders. (Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
Everchem Updates Archive 
Sign Up for Email Updates