Basell to buy Lyondell for $12B
Latest in chemicals industry merger megatrend
By Dave Hannon -- Purchasing, 7/17/2007 12:55:00 PM
After losing out on previous bids to buy Huntsman Corp. and GE Plastics, Dutch chemicals firm Basell has hooked Lyondell Chemical for an estimated $12.1 billion.
Basell, which is owned by U.S. industrial firm Access Industries, has obviously bounced back from the news last week that Hexion Specialty Chemicals, backed by Apollo Management, outbid Basell for Huntsman Corp. Access and Basell on May 11 bought the right to acquire a stake in Lyondell and indicated it might bid for all of the company.
According to a company statement, the deal will create one of the chemical sector's largest companies at $34 billion in revenues. “Lyondell's three business segments—ethylene, co-products and derivatives; propylene oxide and related products; and refining—will complement and significantly strengthen Basell's polyolefins business,” the companies said in the statement.
The boards of both companies have approved the deal, which is expected to close in the next several months. On the chemicals distribution side, Univar has agreed to a buyout by a private equity firm.
The Basell-Lyondell and Hexion-Huntsman deals highlight an ongoing merger and acquisition megatrend in the chemicals and plastics industry. Basell was also involved in early bidding for GE Plastics, which was eventually sold to SABIC for $11 billion. And most recently, there are some reports that German chemicals giant BASF may be looking to sell its styrenics operations.
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