According to news reports issued by investment portal TheDeal.com (www.thedeal.com), venture capital group Ripplewood Holdings LLC of New York is hoping to sell Kraton Polymers LLC (Houston, Texas / USA; www.kraton.com) less than three years after its purchase from Royal Dutch / Shell Group for an alleged price of at least USD 840m. Ripplewood bought Kraton in 2001 for about USD 520m and is claimed to have hired Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley to sell the business. When asked, both banks declined to make any statement on the matter however, Kraton spokesperson Brian Moffett pointed out that Ripplewood commissioned Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley with a “value assessment for the entire group.” TheDeal specified General Electric (GE) and the Spanish company Dynasol as potential buyers, but financial analysts expect the purchase price to be reduced to about USD 750m.

TheDeal goes on to report that over the past two years, Kraton managing director John Georges is credited with reducing costs and improving plant capacity. With sales at USD 600m in 2002, the result is little better than in 1999, but the Ebita has improved from USD 100m to USD 120m in the same period. Kraton Polymers sees itself as the leading producer of TPE, selling 45% of its products in the US, 40% in Europe and the rest in Asia.