Westlake Chemical acquires Axiall over multiple competing bids
(Reuters)—Westlake Chemical Corp. has reached a deal to buy chemical producer Axiall Corp. for $2.33 B after a six-month pursuit that included multiple bids and a rival offer from South Korea's Lotte Chemical Corp.
Atlanta, Georgia-based Axiall shares rose as much as 26% to $32.52 in morning trading on Friday, slightly below the new offer price of $33 per share in cash. Westlake shares rose as much as 5.3% to $47.47.
Axiall had earlier rebuffed Westlake, saying that the Houston, Texas-based petrochemical maker was trying to acquire its vinyls assets cheap.
After its last $23.35 per share cash-and-stock offer in March was rejected, Westlake put up its board nominees in an attempt to replace Axiall's entire board.
The deal has an enterprise value of about $3.8 billion, including debt and other liabilities, Westlake said.
The combined company will be North America's third-largest producer of chlor-alkali and the second-largest producer of polyvinyl chloride. Chlor-alkali is used to make chlorine and caustic soda, while polyvinyl chloride is a form of plastic used in a wide range of products from pipes to packaging.
Lotte Chemical made an offer for Axiall, but the company did not provide further details. The Seoul, South Korea-based company already has a joint venture (JV) with Axiall, through which it plans to produce ethylene in the US.
Westlake said it is looking forward to working with Lotte Chemical through the joint venture and that it had agreed to withdraw its nominees for Axiall's board.
Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey
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