A chemical giant that’s under pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman has decided to split itself into two separate companies, The Post has learned.
Platform Specialty Products is expected to announce Thursday that it will pursue a public offering of its agricultural pesticides division, according to sources briefed on the situation.
In the process, the company is nixing an auction of the agricultural unit, which had drawn interest from prospective bidders including billionaire Stephen Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group, sources said.
Platform Specialty Chairman Martin Franklin and Ackman mutually agreed to scrap the auction process for the unit, whose manufacture of products to protect berries, grapes and beehives represents about half the overall business, a source said.
Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital is the leading shareholder, with a 14.5 percent stake.
Last month, The Post reported that Blackstone had advanced in an auction that valued Platform’s agricultural division at more than $4 billion.
Platform Specialty declined comment.
By Josh Kosman
Source: NY Post
The investment enables the steam cracker to increase the share of renewable and recycled raw materials used in its (ethylene and propylene) production. The move supports the Borealis Strategy 2030 for a circular economy. The Porvoo investment program is expected to be completed in 2025.
Murray Auchincloss, bp’s CEO, said in a statement: “As I set out in February, BP’s destination from IOC [international oil company] to IEC [integrated energy company] is unchanged – and we need to deliver as a simpler, more focused, and higher-value company.
Founded in 1972, Tecnofilm has expanded its product portfolio over the years to offer a wider range of compounds and functional polymers for various industrial applications and technical articles. The company has patented several of its products.
