WESTLAKE
USD 1 bn takeover offer for vinyls producer Georgia Gulf
Westlake Chemical (Houston, Texas / USA; www.westlakechemical.com) has made a USD 30/share offer, valued at USD 1.03 bn (EUR 812m), for chlorovinyls producer Georgia Gulf (Atlanta / USA; www.ggc.com). The merger would create one of the leading North American olefins, vinyls and building products producers, with increased scale in the global vinyls market, Westlake said.
Westlake first approached Georgia Gulf on 20 September 2011 but said it has been unable to engage in meaningful dialogue despite “numerous attempts” to engage. “We are surprised and disappointed that Georgia Gulf's management has been unwilling to engage in substantive discussions with us,” stated Albert Chao, Westlake's president and CEO. “We urge the Georgia Gulf board to act in the best interests of its shareholders by meeting with us to seriously discuss our compelling proposal."
Westlake noted that it would prefer to negotiate a transaction with Georgia Gulf, but acted to make Georgia Gulf’s shareholders aware of the proposal.
The USD 30/share offer, announced on 13 January 2012, represents a 66% premium on Georgia Gulf’s volume-weighted average closing share price of USD 18.02 since the initial 20 September offer. Westlake said it has acquired shares representing approximately 4.8% of the outstanding shares in Georgia Gulf. It expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings in the first fiscal year after closing of the transaction.
Georgia Gulf has the combined capacity to produce 1.015m t/y of PVC at two US sites, Plaquemine (Louisiana) and Aberdeen (Mississippi), according to Plasteurope.com data. Westlake produces PVC at Calvert City, Kentucky / USA and Geismar, Louisiana / USA, and has a joint venture plant in Taicang / China. Overall, the group has capacity to turn out 1.8m t/y of PVC worldwide, 856,000 t/y of which are found in the US.
Westlake first approached Georgia Gulf on 20 September 2011 but said it has been unable to engage in meaningful dialogue despite “numerous attempts” to engage. “We are surprised and disappointed that Georgia Gulf's management has been unwilling to engage in substantive discussions with us,” stated Albert Chao, Westlake's president and CEO. “We urge the Georgia Gulf board to act in the best interests of its shareholders by meeting with us to seriously discuss our compelling proposal."
Westlake noted that it would prefer to negotiate a transaction with Georgia Gulf, but acted to make Georgia Gulf’s shareholders aware of the proposal.
The USD 30/share offer, announced on 13 January 2012, represents a 66% premium on Georgia Gulf’s volume-weighted average closing share price of USD 18.02 since the initial 20 September offer. Westlake said it has acquired shares representing approximately 4.8% of the outstanding shares in Georgia Gulf. It expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings in the first fiscal year after closing of the transaction.
Georgia Gulf has the combined capacity to produce 1.015m t/y of PVC at two US sites, Plaquemine (Louisiana) and Aberdeen (Mississippi), according to Plasteurope.com data. Westlake produces PVC at Calvert City, Kentucky / USA and Geismar, Louisiana / USA, and has a joint venture plant in Taicang / China. Overall, the group has capacity to turn out 1.8m t/y of PVC worldwide, 856,000 t/y of which are found in the US.
17.01.2012 Plasteurope.com [221305-0]
Published on 17.01.2012