Eastman to Acquire Solutia

(eastman) -- Eastman Chemical Company and Solutia Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, under which Eastman will acquire Solutia, a global leader in performance materials and specialty chemicals. Under the terms of the agreement, Solutia stockholders will receive USD22.00 in cash and 0.12 shares of Eastman common stock for each share of Solutia common stock.

Based on yesterday’s closing prices, Solutia shareholders will receive cash and stock valued at USD27.65 per Solutia common share, representing a premium of 42 percent and a total transaction value of approximately USD4.7 billion, including the assumption of Solutia’s debt.

"The acquisition of Solutia is a significant step in our growth strategy and one that I am confident will strengthen Eastman as a top-tier specialty chemical company with strong, stable margins," said Jim Rogers, chairman and chief executive officer of Eastman.

"This transaction is also expected to deliver immediate value to our stockholders in the form of accretion and strong cash generation, as well as create potential upside through the combination of two leading global chemical companies," said Rogers.

MRC

(upstreamonline) -- Spanish giant Repsol has revealed it will invest EUR19.1 billion (USD24 billion) over the 2012-2016 period as it unveiled its new strategic plan to investors on Tuesday.

Repsol said EUR2.9 billion per year, or almost 80% of the planned investment, would be ploughed into its upstream business as the company looks to almost double its net profit in the five years from 2011, excluding profit from YPF which was recently expropriated by Argentina.

The growth will be driven by the company’s exploration and production segment, with investment focused on 10 key growth projects in the US, Brazil, Russia, Spain, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia and Algeria.

Repsol said the development of the projects would result in an annual production growth rate of 7% to reach 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2016.

The strategic plan will be self financed with Repsol's own cash generation and it will also carry out "selective divestments" of non-core strategic assets over the period to 2016 worth between EUR4 billion and EUR4.5 billion.

MRC

(upstreamonline) -- Petrobras is eyeing a bumper round of asset sales by the end of the year as it looks to finance it vast pre-salt plans off Brazil, a report claims.

The Brazilian state-owned oil behemoth is to concentrate much of its efforts on offloading Gulf of Mexico assets where it may consider brings in a "strategic partner" .

Most of the planned USD13.6 billion divestments are to happen before 2013 as the company looks to fill its coffers to finance its five-year, USD225 billion spending plan, the news wire cited Barbassa as saying at its Latin America Investment Summit on Monday.

Barbassa said there has already been strong interest in some of the assets, although he declined to name prospective buyers.

The finance boss also said that Petrobras is looking to double its output to about 6.4 million barrels of oil equivalent by 2020 but that is would be "several years" before the country retains the net exporter tag.
MRC

(upstreamonline) -- Lukoil looks set to beat a path to a Far Eastern bourse as the Russian oil major reportedly lines up a listing in Hong Kong next year.

Shanghai may also appear on the oil producer’s radar although it is not planning on issuing any new shares, according to media reports. “We want to access a new class of investors,” the Financial Times quoted vice president Leonid Fedun as saying. “The world is changing. Asia is playing a greater role in politics and economy.”

The newspaper cited Fedun as saying no new shares would be issued in a planned secondary listing in Hong Kong in mid 2013. Instead the company would shift existing stock over to the Asian bourse which would be accessible through buybacks.

Reuters cited Fedun as saying Lukoil is in final negotiations with China International Capital Corp and Renaissance Capital to handle the deal, while Shanghai may become another option further down the line.

Lukoil has just unveiled an improved first-quarter result on the back of higher oil prices and increased gas production in Uzbekistan.

MRC

(plasteurope) -- Strengthening its presence in the thermoplastic composite materials and components market for automotive, oil and gas as well as consumer electronics, Royal TenCate Advanced Composites (Almelo / The Netherlands) in late May 2012 acquired Performance Materials Corporation Baycomp (PMC Baycomp, Burlington, Ontario / Canada). Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the deal, the former subsidiary of Performance Materials Corporation (Camarillo, California / USA) will become part of a new market group called TenCate Industrial Composites. The US arm of the new group will be headed by former PMC Baycomp president Thomas Smith, who will also oversee operations in Canada, China and Taiwan. TenCate Industrial Composites EMEA will become part of TenCate Advanced Composites EMEA, which is headed by Frank Meurs.

TenCate said its existing thermoplastic composites activities fully complemented those of PMC Baycomp, adding that it plans to focus its composites business on the space and aerospace markets in the future.
MRC