Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) and The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mic.; www.dow.com) have entered into an agreement for Dow to meet U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) required divestitures related to its acquisition of Rohm and Haas. This comes ahead of the November 27, 2009 deadline. Arkema will buy a Clear Lake, Tex., acrylic acid and esters plant and the UCAR Emulsion Systems specialty latex businesses in North America for a fair value consideration of $50 million (2009 estimated revenue for these businesses is approximately $450 million). The proceeds from the sale are accretive to Dow’s shareholders and will be used for further de-leveraging.
The selection of Arkema as the buyer must be approved by the FTC, and the two companies will be shortly reviewing the proposed transaction with FTC authorities. It’s expected to close in the 4th quarter of 2009.