Dow Chemical sells off powder coatings business
Former Rohm & Haas unit goes to Akzo Nobel in ongoing sell-off
Dave Hannon -- Purchasing, 11/12/2009 11:54:11 AM
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Dow Chemical Co. has signed an agreement to sell its powder coatings business to Dutch paints and coatings firm Akzo Nobel for an undisclosed amount.
Dow purchased the powder coatings business earlier this year as part of its acquisition of Rohm & Haas. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2010, subject to regulatory approvals.
"The sale of this business further accelerates Dow's de-leveraging plan, and will contribute to Dow's ability to achieve its financial targets ahead of schedule," said Andrew Liveris, Dow CEO. "In addition, this divestiture is part of our ongoing process to sell non-core assets, and we are now on target to yield more than $3.5 billion of gross proceeds from these activities. We will continue our practice of active portfolio management to improve profitability and focus resources on higher growth, higher margin opportunities."
By "portfolio management" Liveris refers to Dow's ongoing strategy to move away from energy-intensive production businesses and focus more on joint ventures in regions with lower-cost energy. Last month, Dow said it plans to scale back production of styrene monomer and ethylbenzene by closing plants in Freeport, Texas this year. Dow also recently said it was closing three ethylene-related plants in Louisiana to cut costs and focus on specialty chemicals production.
Dow also announced plans to sell its hollow sphere plastic pigment product line to Omnova Solutions. Earlier this year, Dow announced the $1.7 billon sale of Morton Salt, sold its calcium chloride business to Occidental Petroleum for $210 million, and signed a deal to sell its stake in Total Raffinaderij Nederland.
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