Air Products in Talks to Sell Unit to Evonik Industries
17 März 2016 - 2:30AM
Dow Jones News
Air Products & Chemicals Inc. is in advanced talks to sell a
business that makes chemicals used in sun lotion and paint to
Germany's Evonik Industries AG in a deal that could be valued at
more than $3.5 billion.
The two companies are in exclusive talks for Evonik to buy Air
Products' performance-materials operations, according to people
familiar with the matter. A deal could be reached in the coming
weeks, according to one of them. As is always the case with mergers
and acquisitions, there is no guarantee a deal will be
consummated.
Air Products, which has a market value of nearly $30 billion and
counts activist William Ackman among its investors, about six
months ago said it aims to split into two publicly traded
companies. They are: materials technologies—the business that
houses performance-materials—and industrial gases. The
materials-technologies unit's remaining operations, which supply
the semiconductor industry, wouldn't be part of a deal and could be
sold separately, some of the people said. The industrial-gases
business mainly produces oxygen, nitrogen and the like for medical
and industrial purposes.
A transaction would add to a recent flurry of deal-making in the
chemicals industry. Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. in December
agreed to a merger that would create a giant worth more than $100
billion—before a planned breakup. More recently, China National
Chemical Corp., known as ChemChina, agreed to buy Swiss pesticide
and seed company Syngenta AG for $43 billion.
Should the Air Products deal be sealed, it would be one of the
largest in Evonik's history. The chemical company has been vocal
about wanting to do a big deal to gain size and improve
margins.
Air Products' performance-materials unit recorded sales of $245
million in the quarter ending December 31.
Write to Eyk Henning at eyk.henning@wsj.com and Dana Mattioli at
dana.mattioli@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 16, 2016 21:15 ET (01:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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