Lanxess Moves to Acquire Chemtura

Shares of Chemtura Corp. (NYSE: CHMT) saw a solid gain in Monday’s session after the company announced its acquisition by Lanxess. According to the deal, Chemtura is being acquired for $2.5 billion. Both boards of directors have unanimously approved the transaction.

In term of the breakdown, each Chemtura shareholder will receive $33.50 per share in cash, representing an 18.9% premium from the closing price of $28.18 on September 23.

The transaction is still subject to Chemtura shareholder approval and other regulatory approval. The transaction is expected to close around mid-2017.

Excluding Monday’s move, the stock has underperformed the broad markets with a gain of only 3% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up only 1%.

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Craig A. Rogerson, president, chief executive and board chair of Chemtura, commented:

For the past year, our management team and Board of Directors have been actively working to identify a transformative opportunity to create value for our shareholders and to enhance the scale, strength and diversity of our business, both vertically and geographically, for the benefit of our customers and employees. The transaction we are announcing today delivers on that promise. It provides premium value to our shareholders and benefits our customers and employees by making Chemtura part of a larger, stronger global enterprise with the resources to fully support a more diverse suite of specialty chemicals products and services.

Matthias Zachert, CEO and chairman of the board of management of Lanxess, added:

With this acquisition, we are forming a major global player in the field of additives and are significantly strengthening our already profitable portfolio. We are confident that this transaction will create new and exciting opportunities for the customers and employees of both companies. The Chemtura team has built four industrial businesses into a highly attractive group of assets. In addition to the additives segment, Chemtura’s urethane and organometallics businesses will further diversify our company’s product offering.

Shares of Chemtura were last seen up nearly 16% at $32.60 on Monday, with a consensus analyst price target of $33.80 and a 52-week trading range of $23.50 to $32.73.

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