|
MOSCOW (MRC) -- W.R. Grace CEO Hudson
LaForce said the company is open to discussing a sale to private investment fund
40 North Management (New York, New York) “in the context of our ongoing review
of strategic alternatives” in a letter sent to 40 North that was released in
mid-January, 2021, reported
Chemweek.
“Any transaction would need to be at a price level that
reflects full value for Grace and its shareholders,” the letter adds.
40
North submitted
an unsolicited USD4.3-billion, USD65/share, bid to acquire Grace earlier
this month, which Grace said its board would review. The bid came after Grace
rejected a USD60/share offer, also unsolicited, in November.
“Grace’s
opportunities for continued growth and value creation are strong, particularly
as our end markets recover from the disproportionate displacement resulting from
the COVID-19 pandemic,” LaForce says in the letter. “As we disclosed when we
announced our third quarter 2020 results, we have experienced a rapid recovery
from the pandemic and expect fourth quarter 2020 sales and gross margin to
approach pre-pandemic levels, with adjusted free cash flow nearing 2019 levels
as well.”
The company is prepared to share “information that would
support the full value of Grace” under confidentiality agreements with 40 North,
LaForce adds.
As MRC informed
previously, in April 2018, W. R. Grace & Co. completed the USD416
million acquisition of the Polyolefin Catalysts business of Albemarle
Corporation.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report,
Russia's estimated polyethylene (PE) consumption totalled 1,990,280 tonnes in
the first eleven months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high density
polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP)
shipments to the Russian market reached 1 090,900 tonnes in the first eleven
months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus
imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply of
exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
A leader in polyolefin
catalysts and licensing, W.R. Grace has the world’s broadest portfolio of
polypropylene and polyethylene catalyst technologies used to produce
thermoplastic resins for a variety of applications. A leading innovator and
strategic partner to its customers, Grace supplies catalyst solutions for all
polyolefin processes, as well as polypropylene process technology and process
controls. Grace employs approximately 3,700 people in over 30
countries. |
