The Dow Chemical Company and Bain Capital Partners, a leading global private equity firm, announced jointly today that they have closed the sale of Dow’s Styron Division to an affiliate of Bain Capital.
Dow has elected to retain a 7.5 percent equity position in Styron, which is now a privately held, global materials company. Also included in the transaction are several long-term supply, service and purchase agreements between Dow and Styron that will generate substantial additional value for both companies.
“The Styron divestiture is another major step in Dow’s transformation and a strong example of our disciplined approach to portfolio management and business prioritization,” said Andrew N. Liveris, Dow Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “With the close of this transaction, we have exceeded our goal of divesting $5 billion of non-strategic assets, and we have done so in just five quarters. These divestitures have enabled Dow to both reduce debt and liberate capital and resources for Dow’s higher growth, higher margin businesses.”
"We are excited to see Styron emerge as an independent company. The Styron management team, together with our new partners at Dow, have worked tirelessly to provide Styron with the capabilities to pursue its global growth strategy," said Steve Zide, a Managing Director at Bain Capital. "We are confident that the management team led by Chris Pappas, and all of Styron's employees around the world, will further expand and strengthen the Company's leadership positions with a continued commitment to excellent service to customers and business partners."
Styron is positioned as a leading materials company with global reach and a unique product portfolio, bringing together plastics, rubber and latex businesses that share feedstocks, operations, customers and end users. Styron has approximately $3.7 billion in revenue (based on 2009 data), with manufacturing facilities at 20 locations in 13 countries around the world. Styron has approximately 2,000 employees based in 30 countries worldwide.
Businesses and products included in this transaction are: Styrenics – Polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) and expandable polystyrene (EPS); Emulsion Polymers (paper and carpet latex); Polycarbonate (PC) and Compounds & Blends; Synthetic Rubber; Automotive Plastics; and some styrene monomer assets.
Dow announced its plan to form the Styron Division and explore divestiture options in July 2009. A definitive agreement between Dow and Bain Capital Partners was signed and announced in March 2010.
Source: http://www.dow.com/