The Dow Chemical Company has closed the sale of its Styron division to an affiliate of Bain Capital Partners, the private equity firm.
Dow has elected to retain a 7.5 per cent equity position in Styron, which is now a privately held materials company.
Also included in the transaction are several long-term supply, service and purchase agreements between Dow and Styron that aim to generate additional value for both companies.
“The Styron divestiture is another major step in Dow’s transformation and a strong example of our disciplined approach to portfolio management and business prioritization,” says Andrew N. Liveris (pictured), Dow chairman and chief executive officer. “With the close of this transaction, we have exceeded our goal of divesting USD5bn of non-strategic assets, and we have done so in just five quarters. These divestitures have enabled Dow to both reduce debt and liberate capital and resources for Dow’s higher growth, higher margin businesses.”
"We are excited to see Styron emerge as an independent company. The Styron management team, together with our new partners at Dow, have worked tirelessly to provide Styron with the capabilities to pursue its global growth strategy," adds Steve Zide, a managing director at Bain Capital. "We are confident that the management team led by Chris Pappas, and all of Styron’s employees around the world, will further expand and strengthen the company’s leadership positions with a continued commitment to excellent service to customers and business partners."
Styron brings together plastics, rubber and latex businesses that share feedstocks, operations, customers and end users. Styron has approximately USD3.7bn in revenue (based on 2009 data), with manufacturing facilities at 20 locations in 13 countries around the world.
Dow announced its plan to form the Styron division and explore divestiture options in July 2009. A definitive agreement between Dow and Bain Capital Partners was signed and announced in March 2010.
