Specialty chemicals company LANXESS has recently signed a contract to sell its Urethane Systems business to Japanese UBE Corporation. The enterprise value amounts to €460 million with expected proceeds of around €500 million. With this transaction LANXESS exits the last remaining polymer business.
The Urethane Systems business comprises 5 manufacturing sites globally as well as application laboratories in the USA, Europe and China. UBE Corporation will take over all operations from LANXESS with a total of around 400 employees. The Urethane Systems business generated sales of around €250 million last twelve months June 2024.
LANXESS will use the proceeds to reduce its net debt. The leverage ratio (net debt / EBITDA pre) will likely be reduced by ~0.5x.
“The sale of Urethane Systems marks another milestone in our fast transformation into a pure-play specialty chemicals company, as we are divesting the last remaining polymer business in our portfolio. We are convinced that the Urethanes business will have significantly enhanced opportunities for growth and development under the umbrella of UBE,” says Matthias Zachert, Chairman of the Board of Management of LANXESS AG. ”At the same time, we are using the proceeds from the transaction to strengthen our balance sheet by further reducing our net debt.”
The transaction remains subject to the approval of the relevant authorities. LANXESS expects the transaction to close in the first half of 2025.
