Chemtura to sell agrichemicals business for $1 bln
(Adds details from statement, shares)
April 17 (Reuters) - Chemtura Corp struck a deal to sell its agrichemicals business to rival Platform Specialty Products Corp for about $1 billion as it transforms itself into a pure-play industrial specialty chemical company.
The deal will be funded by $950 million in cash and the issue of 2 million Platform shares.
The deal, expected to close in the second half of 2014, will leave Chemtura with two businesses - one producing petroleum additives and the other flame retardants.
Chemtura AgroSolutions, which sells seeds, insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, generated revenue of $449 million and adjusted EBITDA of $101 million in 2013.
The deal follows Platform's acquisition of privately held specialty chemicals company MacDermid Group for $1.8 billion in October.
Platform counts hedge fund manager Bill Ackman among its investors.
Platform shares closed at $19.66 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, while Chemtura closed at $25.21.
(Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
