Ferro is exploring strategic options including a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter, reports Bloomberg.
The company is working with financial advisers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is not public, it reports. No final decision has been made and Ferro could opt to remain independent, the people said. A representative for Ferro did not respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comment.
Ferro is exploring a sale amid heavy consolidation among chemical companies with coatings operations, as tepid growth and volatile commodity prices spur industry players to pair up. Car-paint maker Axalta Coating Systems is exploring a sale while Celanese is undertaking a strategic review that could include a breakup, people familiar with those matters have said.
Ferro received a takeover approach in 2016 from Apollo Global Management after an activist investor in its stock said it should explore a sale, people familiar with the matter said at the time.
In its second-quarter financial results in July it reported net income of $10.9 million, a 64% year-on-year (YOY) decline on weak automotive and construction markets, while net sales fell 5.4% YOY to $393.9 million. The company cut its full-year earnings guidance to $225–240 million, citing trade-related uncertainty and higher manufacturing costs. Chairman and CEO Peter Thomas highlighted the effects of global economic uncertainty and slowing growth outside the US, and poor macroeconomic visibility leading to customer cautiousness in some of the company’s markets, “particularly the automotive and construction sectors.”
By Mark Thomas
Source: Chemical Week
The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC), DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE: DD) and Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) (the “companies”) today announced they have reached an agreement in principle to comprehensively resolve all PFAS-related drinking water claims of a defined class of public water systems that serve the vast majority of the United States population.
The quest to develop hydrogen as a clean energy source that could curb our dependence on fossil fuels may lead to an unexpected place — coal. A team of Penn State scientists found that coal may represent a potential way to store hydrogen gas, much like batteries store energy for future use, addressing a major hurdle in developing a clean energy supply chain.
WE Soda (London), a major producer of soda ash, said it intends to launch an IPO and apply to list its shares on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. The company, wholly owned by industrial conglomerate the Ciner Group (Istanbul, Turkey), said it is the world’s largest producer of natural soda ash.
