8th May 2008 08:00
Croda International PLC08 May 2008 8 May 2008 Croda International Plc Sale of Chicago Oleochemicals Business Croda International Plc ("Croda") announces that it has agreed to sell itsoleochemicals business in Chicago, Illinois, USA ("Chicago Oleochemicals" or "the business") to H.I.G. Capital, LLC ("H.I.G.") for £46.7 million. Thisdisposal is part of Croda's restructuring programme to re-position itsoleochemical operations following the acquisition of Uniqema in 2006. Chicago Oleochemicals is a leading North American supplier of fatty acids andglycerine which are used in personal care, household and industrial formulatedproducts. During 2007, the business made an operating profit of £4.6 million onturnover of £87.9 million and had gross assets of £54.7 million at 31 March2008. Going forward, the business will function as a standalone operation, ledby the current local management team. H.I.G. is a leading private equity investment firm with more than $4.5 billionof equity capital under management with offices throughout the USA and Europe.H.I.G. specialises in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies inbuyout transactions. The transaction is being effected by way of a sale of assets rather than shareswith £38.1 million payable in cash at completion and the balance as a loan notedue in 2014 but repayable earlier in certain circumstances. The agreementcontains warranties customary in a transaction of this nature and size and issubject to a working capital adjustment at completion. All employees of thebusiness will transfer to the acquiring entity as a result of this transaction.Croda will continue to source some products from the business under normal thirdparty commercial terms. The completion is subject to standard closing conditions, including Hart ScottRodino anti-trust clearance. The sales proceeds will initially be used to reduce the net debt of the Crodagroup. The transaction is expected to be marginally earnings dilutive in theyear ending 31 December 2008 (see note 1). Dresdner Kleinwort acted as financial adviser and Foley and Lardner LLP acted aslegal adviser to Croda on this transaction. For further information, please contact: Sean Christie, Group Finance Director Tel: 01405 860551 Charlie Armitstead, Financial Dynamics Tel: 020 7831 3113 Notes 1. This statement should not be taken to mean that earnings per share (beforeany one-off costs) of Croda will necessarily be lower than historic earnings pershare (before any one-off costs) of Croda and no forecast is intended orimplied. 2.Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements.Such statements are based on current expectations and, by their nature, aresubject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual resultsand performance to differ materially from any expected future results orperformance expressed or implied by the forward-looking statement. Theinformation does not assume any responsibility or obligation to update publiclyor revise any of the forward-looking statements contained herein. 3. This announcement is made by Croda and is the sole responsibility of Croda.Croda is exclusively responsible for the contents of this announcement andneither Dresdner Kleinwort Limited nor any person acting on Croda's behalf areresponsible for or shall have any liability for any information, representationor statement relating to Croda contained in this announcement or any informationpreviously published by or on behalf of Croda or otherwise. Dresdner Kleinwort Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the FinancialServices Authority, is acting for Croda and for no-one else in connection withthe contents of this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone otherthan Croda for providing the protections afforded to customers of DresdnerKleinwort Limited or for affording advice in relation to the contents of thisannouncement or any matters referred to herein. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Croda International