$11 billion! DuPont completes sale of its Transportation and Materials division
Latest: On November 1, DuPont completed the $11 billion sale of the majority of its Transportation and Materials (M&M) business to Celanese Corporation, a publicly traded global chemical and specialty materials company (Celanese).
The business unit, which includes products from its engineering polymers and performance resin lines, had been in talks for several months before a deal was struck in February.
The sale includes the entire Engineering Polymers business line and selected product lines in Performance Resins and Advanced Materials, which had net sales of approximately $3.5 billion last year and operating EBITDA of approximately $800 million.
Celanese Chairman and CEO Lori
“We are delighted to welcome the M&M team to Celanese and I would like to thank the team that worked so hard to make this acquisition a success today,” Ryerkerk said in a statement. “With the addition of a well-known brand and product portfolio in the M&M industry, we have Building Celanese into the pre-eminent specialty materials company in the world. As a team, we will be better positioned to elevate the growth trajectory of engineered materials and create value for our customers and shareholders.”
Celanese, headquartered in Dallas, has approximately 8,500 employees worldwide and 2021 net sales of $8.5 billion.
Both DuPont and Celanese said they will provide more information on the deal, including how DuPont plans to use the proceeds from the sale, in their scheduled third-quarter earnings next week.
Earlier this year, DuPont said net proceeds from the spin-off of the M&M business would help fund the previously announced $5.2 billion acquisition of Rogers and further M&A opportunities, in addition to continuing stock buybacks purchase. DuPont announced on Nov. 2 that it had terminated its previously announced agreement to acquire Rogers Corporation after it was unable to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals. Under the agreement, DuPont paid Rogers a $162.5 million termination fee.
The divestment comes at a time of change for the century-old DuPont, which is targeting a “high-growth, high-value” portfolio centered on electronics, water, protection, industrial technology and next-generation vehicles.
Following the sale of M&M to Celanese, DuPont will retain the automotive adhesive, Multibase and Tedlar product lines, which will have net sales of approximately $950 million and operating EBITDA of approximately $120 million in 2021.