ICI sells Synetix
23 Sep 2002
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) has agreed to sell its catalyst business, Synetix, to Johnson Matthey for a total of £260 million in cash.
Net proceeds after tax and other costs are expected to be about £210 million, and will be used to reduce indebtedness.
Completion of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approval and, in the case of ICI India Limited, to shareholder approval. ICI India will recommend the sale of its catalyst business to its shareholders.
The agreement follows the strategic decision by the ICI Board, announced on January 31, 2002, to divest the Synetix business.
Synetix focuses on the sales of catalysts and service technologies in key market segments of edible oils, polymerisation, methanol, ammonia, oil and gas, chemicals, fine chemicals and oleochemicals. The business has catalyst production facilities in several countries and is headquartered at Billingham in the UK. It has approximately 800 employees, who will transfer to Johnson Matthey, and about 5,000 customers in 85 countries.
For the year ended December 31, 2001, Synetix had sales of £146 million, trading profit of £24 million and at December 31, 2001 had net operating assets of £109 million.
The transaction is expected to give rise to a profit after tax of around £85 million which will be accounted for as an exceptional item in the fourth quarter.
