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 European Union said Monday that it has approved Agrofert Group’s acquisition of Borealis AG’s nitrogen business after concluding that the deal wouldn’t raise competition concerns. Agrofert is a Czech conglomerate, while Austrian chemical and fertilizer company Borealis is 75%-owned by OMV AG with the remaining 25% held by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. and Mepol Group announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for LyondellBasell to acquire Mepol Group, a manufacturer of recycled, high-performing technical compounds located in Italy and Poland.
Univar Solutions Inc and Apollo announced that funds managed by affiliates of Apollo have entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire the Company in an all-cash transaction that values the Company at an enterprise value of approximately $8.1 billion.
