India’s United Phosphorous Ltd. is in talks to acquire Arysta LifeScience, a division of Platform Specialty Products, according to a report in Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter. The deal could be worth as much as $4 billion, including debt, the report says. Arysta reported sales of about $1.9 billion in 2017, accounting for about half of Platform’s total sales.
Platform said on Monday that is in exclusive discussions with an unnamed buyer about Arysta. “We have had discussions with several parties regarding an acquisition of or investment in Arysta LifeScience,” says Platform CEO Rakesh Sachdev. “We are now in exclusive discussions with a potential acquirer of the business and expect to have more information to provide to our shareholders and all our stakeholders on or before our second quarter earnings conference call.”
The company announced in August 2017 that it will split Arysta from its other business, electronic chemicals maker MacDermid. The split was initially intended to entail Arysta and MacDermid both becoming publicly traded companies.
Platform, a blank-check firm founded by former Jarden executive Martin Franklin, acquired Arysta in 2015 for $3.51 billion. Arysta’s previous owner was Pemira (London), a private equity firm. Platform’s ag business also includes the former Agriphar and the former agchems business of Chemtura.
The Arysta business was hit hard by the downturn in ag over the past few years; however, first-quarter results saw profits recover.
MacDermid was acquired by Platform from a private equity consortium in 2013 for $1.8 billion, and the company built out the electronic chemicals business with the $2.3-billion acquisition of Alent and some businesses acquired from OM Group, all of which were merged into MacDermid. No rumors have thus far surfaced about a potential buyer for MacDermid.
Pershing Square Capital management, headed by activist investor Bill Ackman, is currently Platform’s largest shareholder, according to Bloomberg.
UPL makes a variety of agricultural chemicals and seeds, and also owns an industrial chemicals business. The company expanded its exposure in seeds by acquiring a stake in a Brazilian firm last year. It posted a 0.67% decline in net profit for the fiscal fourth quarter ended 31 March, to 7.36 billion Indian rupees ($110.29 million). Revenue increased by 4.9% year over year to Rs58.09 billion.
By Vincent Valk
Source: Chemical Week
PepsiCo Europe and crop nutrition company Yara have announced a long-term partnership aimed at providing European farmers with low-carbon crop nutrition solutions to help decarbonise the food value chain. Under the agreement, Yara will supply PepsiCo with up to 165,000 tons of fertiliser per year by 2030, covering around 25% of the food and beverage giant’s crop fertiliser needs across Europe.
BASF has signed an agreement to sell its flocculants business for mining applications to Solenis, a specialty chemicals manufacturer. The divestment of the flocculants business to Solenis is part of BASF’s ongoing portfolio optimisation with the aim of focusing on strategic core areas.
ADAMA Ltd. a leading crop protection company, announced that its board of directors has appointed Gaël Hili as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective October 1, 2024. Hili will join the Syngenta Group Leadership Team and will be based in Tel Aviv.
