Chemtura (Middlebury, Connecticut / USA; www.chemtura.com), currently in US Chapter 11 insolvency proceedings, has entered a “stalking horse” agreement with SK Capital Partners (New York / USA; www.skcapitalpartners.com), naming the New York-based private equity group as lead bidder in a court-approved auction of its “Mark” brand global PVC additives portfolio. The transaction includes “certain assets, the stock of a European subsidiary and the assumption of certain liabilities,” Chemtura said in a statement.

The overall portfolio of the US group that resulted from the 2005 merger of Great Lakes and Crompton includes stabilisers, plasticisers, antioxidants, flame retardants, blowing agents, catalysts and modifiers. Sales totalled USD 3.5 bn in 2008. Prior to entering Chapter 11 in March 2009 – see Plasteurope.com of 20.03.2009 – Chemtura had unsuccessfully sought a buyer for the company as a whole.

The PVC business, to which European offshoot Chemtura Vinyl Additives (Lampertheim / Germany) belongs, produces tin stabilisers, liquid phosphite esters, organic-based stabilisers and PVC impact modifiers, among other products. After sales of USD 374m in 2008, revenues of this unit sank to USD 177m in the first nine months of 2009, due to what the company described as “reduced volume and an unfavourable product mix", especially in the PVC segment.

Although SK, with its offer estimated to total about USD 45m, is considered to have the inside track, it can be outbid by competitors up to the 22 February deadline. In mid-2009 the private equity investor paid USD 50m for the polyamide business of Solutia (St. Louis, Missouri / USA; www.solutia.com), now trading as Ascend Performance Materials – see Plasteurope.com of 15.06.2009.