PolyOne Closes Resin Assets Sale
Specialty polymer materials maker PolyOne Corporation (POL) announced that it has completed the sale of its vinyl dispersion, blending and suspension resin assets to Mexichem, S.A.B. de C.V. for $250 million in cash. The sale included only those assets that were related to resin production including manufacturing plants in Pedrick town, N.J., Henry, Ill., and a resin research facility in Avon Lake, Ohio.
PolyOne’s resin assets formed a part of its Performance Products and Solutions segment and are involved in the direct manufacture of base resins. PolyOne stated that its decision to sell the assets is a part of its strategy to realign its portfolio.
PolyOne’s resin assets generated revenues of $147 million in 2012. The sale is expected to dilute PolyOne’s earnings by about 22 cents per share in 2013. However, the company’s earnings target for 2015 remains at $2.50 per share.
The divestiture of the base resin assets is consistent with PolyOne’s strategy of focusing on its core competence of material science formulation for specialty applications. This is in sync with the company’s improvement plan, which has delivered substantial shareholder value over the last five years.
PolyOne expects after-tax proceeds of about $150 million and to recognize a post-tax gain of roughly $140 million on the sale.
PolyOne is among the prominent players in the chemical-plastics industry along with Tredegar Corp. (TG), Westlake Chemical Corp. (WLK) and A. Schulman, Inc. (SHLM). It is a leading provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions. PolyOne has annual sales of $3 billion and operations around the world.
PolyOne currently retains a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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