Dow Chemical to buy rival chemicals maker Rohm and Haas for

[chatchai]

Dow Chemical to buy rival chemicals maker Rohm and Haas for about $15.3 billion

DETROIT (AP) -- Dow Chemical Co. has agreed to buy rival Rohm and Haas Co. for more than $15 billion in cash in a deal that Dow hopes will fuel its growth in the lucrative market of making specialty chemicals.

"The addition of Rohm and Haas' portfolio is game-changing for Dow," Chairman and Chief Executive Andrew Liveris said Thursday in a statement announcing the deal.

The $78 per-share deal includes money from a Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. The price represents a 74 percent premium to Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas' closing share price of $44.83 on Wednesday.

Based on the per-share purchase price and the roughly 196 million shares Rohm and Haas had outstanding as of April 22, the deal is worth about $15.29 billion.

The companies said assumed debt will boost the total value of the transaction to about $18.8 billion.

Rohm and Haas shares soared $29.42, or 66 percent, to $74.25 in morning trading while Dow Chemical shares fell 54 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $33.42.

The acquisition is part of an effort by Dow to move into the higher-margin specialty chemicals market, which may provide a buffer against ups and downs in basic chemical sales. Dow said the deal will make it the world's leading specialty chemicals and advanced materials company.

The companies said they hope to complete the deal by early 2009. Dow expects it to help its financial performance in the second year following completion, with "pretax annual cost synergies" of at least $800 million per year.

Dow in recent months has announced two sets of wide-ranging price increases in an attempt to offset record costs for energy and raw materials. Rohm and Haas also has increased prices, along with some other of the companies' competitors.

Dow plans to establish an advanced materials business unit at Rohm and Haas' current headquarters in Philadelphia and intends to contribute some Dow businesses to Rohm and Haas' existing portfolio, such as coatings and personal care. The total revenue of that new unit is expected to approach $13 billion.

Dow will retain Rohm and Haas' corporate name for this advanced materials business unit. Two Rohm and Haas directors will join Dow's board, bringing the total size of Dow's board to 14 members.

"We believe that by becoming a part of Dow, we secure a brighter future and greater growth prospects for our employees," Rohm and Haas Chairman and Chief Executive Raj Gupta said in a statement.

Dow has annual sales of $54 billion and about 46,000 employees worldwide. It makes everything from the propylene glycols used in antifreeze, coolants, solvents, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, to acrylic acid-based products used in detergents, wastewater-treatment and disposable diapers.

Rohm and Haas, which has more than 15,000 workers around the globe and had about $8.9 billion in sales in 2007, makes numerous raw materials, including plastics additives, building materials, table salt, paints and coatings. It owns Morton Salt.

The deal has been approved by both companies' boards. It is pending approval by Rohm and Haas shareholders and regulatory approvals. The Kuwaiti Investment Authority is helping to fund the deal.

ข่าวนี้น่าสนใจไหมครับ

[chode]

ราคาสารเคมีเพื่อผลิตอาหารคงแพงขึ้นอีก

[mprandy]

น่าสนใจครับ

แต่จะน่าสนใจยิ่งกว่านี้อีกถ้าเปลี่ยน headline อีกนิด

Dow Chemical to buy White Group for about $... billion

:lovl: :lovl: :lovl: และแล้ว.. เราก็จะได้ billionaire VI คนใหม่  

[chatchai]

Dow Chemical to Buy Rohm & Haas for $18.8 Billion

By Reuters | 10 Jul 2008 | 09:37 AM ET Font size: Dow Chemical said on Thursday it would buy rival Rohm and Haas for $15.3 billion in a move to broaden its product offerings in higher margin markets such as paints, coatings and electronic materials.


DOW has been successful in commodity chemicals such as those used to make plastics, that business is typically cyclical and yields thinner margins, and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Liveris has sought to move Dow into higher margin specialty chemicals markets.

"The addition of Rohm and Haas' portfolio is game-changing for Dow," Chairman and Chief Executive Andrew Liveris said in a statement, referring to its new acquisition as a "beachfront" premier property.

"We've said for a while that we're going to be disciplined, we're going to wait for the right property, the right asset, and frankly, a month ago, this deal was not available. A month later, we have this wonderful announcement. We're very, very thrilled," Liveris told CNBC.

With this one acquisition, Dow boosts its presence across a wide range of specialty markets and positions itself to withstand industry downturns.

The all-cash deal for $78 per share is a 74 percent premium compared to Rohm and Haas' ROHM & HAAS COROH

Including Rohm & Haas' debt of $3.5 billion, the deal would be valued at $18.8 billion.

When asked about the premium, Liveris told CNBC: "It was worth the price."

Financing for the acquisition, the third largest of 2008, includes an equity investment by billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway IncBRK and the Kuwait Investment Authority in the form of convertible preferred securities for $3 billion and $1 billion, respectively.

Dow has also secured $13 billion debt financing from Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.

It hopes to pay down some of this debt immediately after receiving the proceeds from its planned joint venture with Kuwait Petroleum.

In December 2007, the Midland, Michigan-based chemical maker announced it would receive $9.5 billion from Kuwait Petroleum to form a 50-50 plastics joint venture.

Dow, one of the largest energy consumers in the United States, has hiked its prices twice since early May and instituted freight surcharges to help pass along the sharp jump in energy prices.

Liveris told Reuters that Dow received an early indication from credit rating agency Moody's that its debt would remain investment grade, and that its debt-to-capitalization ratio would be below 40 percent.

He expects the combined company to earn more than $4 a share by the time the industry faces its next market trough, which analysts expect to take place in about 2010.

For Berkshire, which will become Dow's largest shareholder, the deal is similar to the role it played in helping candy maker Mars to buy chewing gum company Wrigley for $23 billion.

Dow said the deal would be "meaningfully accretive" to earnings in the second year after it closes, with pre-tax cost savings expected to be at least $800 million per year.

Liveris said Dow has been "appropriately conservative" on the level of earnings that it hopes to generate from the deal.

Dow will create an advanced materials business unit at Rohm and Haas' current headquarters in Philadelphia that will have a total annual revenue of nearly $13 billion, upon completion.

Two Rohm and Haas directors will join the Dow's board, bringing the total size of Dow's board to 14.

WG เป็นตัวแทนจำหน่ายให้กับทั้ง Dow และ Rohm and Haas อยู่แล้ว

ที่น่าสนใจคือ Buffett สนใจธุรกิจ Specialty Chemical ด้วยแฮะ

[A man from the Islay]

เอาราคาของ Dow ปิดที่ NYSE เมื่อคืนมาให้ดูครับ ลบไป 4% กว่าๆ, ปิดใกล้ 52 wk low มากครับ


 
32.52
-1.44 (-4.24%)


Jul 10 - Close     Open:  32.25      Mkt Cap:  30.26B      P/E:  10.93      Dividend:  0.42
  High:  34.61      52Wk High:  47.96      F P/E:  10.81      Yield:  5.17
  Low:  31.72     52Wk Low:  31.72     Beta:  1.24      Shares:  930.42M
  Vol:  27.79M      Avg Vol:  7.56M      EPS:  2.97      Inst. Own:  70%

[chatchai]

ก็ Dow ซื้อ Rohm and Haas ให้ราคาสูงกว่าราคาตลาดตั้ง 70% เชียว

[raruen]

WG เป็น exclusive distributor ของสินค้าพวกนี้แต่เพียงผู้เดียวเหรอครับ

[mprandy]

WG เป็น exclusive distributor ของสินค้าพวกนี้แต่เพียงผู้เดียวเหรอครับ

[A man from the Islay]

อย่างงี้ถ้าคนที่มีโอกาสไปซื้อที่ NYSE ได้ก็ซื้อ Dow เลยจะดีมั๊ยฮ่ะพี่ฉัตรชัย?

PE ประมาณ 9, D.Yield 5% กว่าๆ ราคาก็ลงมาทุกวันเลยตั้งแต่มีข่าว.........

[chatchai]

ผมไม่รู้ธุรกิจ DOW  แต่คิดว่าเป็นธุรกิจผลิต  ไม่ใช่ธุรกิจตัวแทนจำหน่าย