Solvay has entered into a binding agreement with BASF for the sale of its polyamides business. This will move Solvay further towards its transformation towards a multi-specialty chemicals company and strengthens BASF’s polyamide operations in Asia and South America. Solvay and BASF aim to close the transaction in the third quarter of 2018.
The transaction covers Solvay’s upstream and downstream polyamides business in Europe, North America, and Asia, as well as the downstream engineering plastics business in Latin America and involves around 2,400 Solvay employees. Solvay will retain its upstream intermediates and downstream textile polyamide business in Latin America.
Under the proposed terms of the agreement, the transaction is based on an enterprise value of €1.6 billion, which represents ~8x EBITDA of 2016 and ~7x EBITDA in the last twelve months. The expected net cash proceeds are estimated to be around €1.1 billion.
