Huntsman and Clariant Set to Announce $14bn Tie-up

Huntsman Corporation and Switzerland’s Clariant are set to unveil a $14bn all-stock cross-border merger on Monday, in a transaction that will allow the two speciality chemicals companies to form a formidable industry challenger.

The transaction will see Clariant investors control about 52 per cent of the combined group, while Huntsman shareholders will own the remainder, according to people briefed on the deal’s details.Peter Huntsman, chief executive and a son of the company’s founder and chairman Jon Huntsman Sr, will be named to lead the new company, while Clariant’s head Hariolf Kottmann will become its chairman.The business will be called HuntsmanClariant.It is set to be the latest high-profile transaction across the diversified chemicals sector, where companies are striking ever more aggressive deals to find new ways to slash costs and gain greater scale of their segments.

Mr Huntsman Sr, a Mormon, founded the company, which was focused on styrofoam packing, with his brother in 1970 after leaving a junior role in the Nixon White House. Soon after, he famously managed to snag McDonald’s as a client, which was looking for a container to hold its newly-launched Big Mac hamburgers. The success of the business spawned a family dynasty in Utah, where another one of Mr Huntsman’s sons, Jon, became the state’s governor and a presidential candidate in 2012.Today the business employs 15,000 people across a number of speciality chemical segments, including polyurethanes and advanced materials. It listed in 2005 and has a market value of $6.4bn and a net debt of just under $4bn.Clariant was formed in 1995, having been spun off from the larger chemicals group Sandoz. It employs just over 17,000 people and has a market value of €6.7bn and net debt of about €1.5bn. The company has been the subject of endless deal speculation in recent years, with larger rivals such as Germany’s Evonik having considered takeover approaches.The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the companies were in talks to merge.