Solutia has found a buyer for the former Monsanto nylon business, which it put up for sale last year. It is to be sold to an affiliate of SK Capital Partners II, a New York-based private equity firm that is focused on the chemical, material and health care sectors. Solutia built the business up from a US-based fibres business to “the world’s second-largest producer of nylon 66 plastics” but decided to sell it because of rising raw material prices.
Withdrawal from the nylon business transforms Solutia into “a pure-play performance materials and specialty chemicals company, with a portfolio of high-value products with world-leading positions,” according to chairman, president and chief executive Jeffry Quinn.
The sale includes all five plants at Alvin, Texas (Chocolate Bayou); Decatur, Alabama; Greenwood, South Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; and Foley, Alabama, together with the management and employees.
Solutia will receive $50 million in cash and a 2 per cent stake in a new holding company for the business. The buyer is also taking on all of the liabilities of the nylon business, including employee and pension liabilities and environmental liabilities. The sale is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
Source: britishplastics.co.uk
