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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Specialty chemicals
producer Elementis (London, UK) has rejected a GBP621-million (USD819 million)
all-cash buyout offer from Minerals Technologies (New York, New York), saying
the valuation for the company is too low, according to Chemweek.
Elementis’s board confirms it
received a proposal on 5 November from Minerals Technologies for a possible cash
offer of 107 pence per share, and says it has unanimously rejected the
conditional proposal as it “significantly undervalued Elementis and its future
prospects.” There can be “no certainty either that an offer will be made nor as
to the terms of any offer, if made. A further announcement will be made when
appropriate,” it adds.
The offer represents a premium of 31% to the
closing price of 81.70 pence per Elementis share on 4 November, according to
Minerals Technologies. Elementis has over 580 million issued shares at
present.
Mineral Technologies says it is “currently considering its
position” following the rejection of its offer, adding that its proposal
represents a premium of 47% to Elementis’s 90 trading-day volume weighted
average share price of 72.66 pence as of market close on 4 November. “However,
any offer would be likely to be solely in cash,” it says.
Elementis,
founded in 1844, manufactures additives for products in the consumer and
industrial markets, including personal care, coatings, chromium, energy, and
talc. Rothschild & Co. is acting as financial advisor to Elementis. The
company in October reported lower volumes year on year for the third quarter,
with a sequential improvement in trading compared with the second quarter.
Minerals Technologies is required in accordance with stock market
regulations by 10 December to announce either a firm intention to make an offer
for Elementis or that it does not intend to proceed.
As MRC reported earlier,
Elementis has just entered an exclusive distribution agreement with
DKSH (Zurich, Switzerland), a holding company specializing in market expansion
services, for personal care applications in the French market.
We
remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in September 2020 by
6.7% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased by
6.1% year on year in the first nine months of 2020, according to Rosstat's data.
According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation,
polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the
January-September output. Last month's production of primary polymers decreased
to 852,000 tonnes from 888,000 tonnes in August due to shutdowns in Tomsk, Ufa
and Kazan. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 7,480,000 tonnes
over the stated period, up by 16.4% year on year.
Elementis plc is
one of the UK's largest speciality chemicals business. The Company comprises
three businesses: Specialty Products, Surfactants and Chromium. Both Specialty
Products and Chromium hold leading market positions in their chosen sectors.
Elementis employs over 1,200 people at more than 30 locations
worldwide. |
