Huntsman Corp. became the third largest chemical company in the United States early Wednesday when it sealed a multibillion-dollar acquisition in London.
Huntsman Corp., based in Salt Lake City, doubled its size with the $3 billion purchase of four major businesses from Imperial Chemical Industries of London. The far-flung deal includes facilities in Europe, Asia, India, Pakistan, South Africa and a host of other countries.Jon M. Huntsman, chairman and chief executive officer of Huntsman Corp., said several executives will relocate to ensure a smooth transition of these businesses into the fold.
His son, Peter R. Huntsman, who is president and chief operating officer, will move to the company's European headquarters in Brussels, which is on a 10-building campus of 1,000 acres. He will be there for a year to 18 months.
Meanwhile, another son, Jon M. Huntsman Jr., vice chairman of the Huntsman Corp. board and former U.S. ambassador to Singapore, will move to Singapore but not for very long. He recently was named head of Envision Utah, a partnership that has gathered data about the Wasatch Front and is working on long-term strategies to improve air quality, water conservation, preservation of open space, transportation, housing and a host of other quality of life issues.
"He's going to Singapore temporarily for two or three months during the summer months only," the senior Huntsman said in a telephone interview from New York Wednesday."We had originally scheduled him to move over there longer, but with the way things are working out with Envision Utah and his responsibilities on the home front, he will be there in the summer only."
However, Jon Huntsman Jr. will be making trips abroad from time to time because of his extensive knowledge of Asia, his father said.
The ICI purchase, which has been in the works for about three months, will help the Huntsman family pour more dollars into charitable work, Huntsman Sr. said.
"The driving force behind our growth and expansion in our businesses has been for many years now to gain the opportunity to expand our charitable and humanitarian giving," he said.
"This past year, we have given $75 million out. But it would be our hope that in the future we could expand the Huntsman Cancer Institute dramatically and be able to finance other major charitable organizations."
The Huntsman family in past years has given significant amounts to a program for homeless people, assisted victims of the devastating 1988 earthquake in Armenia and has donated considerable sums to universities. The family also has donated money or services in unpublicized charitable work.
Huntsman said some people might be skeptical about his comments regarding gaining wealth to help the needy, but he insisted that in his family's case, that is the truth.
"Our focus for our family and my own personal drives are very much determined by an ability to try to put something back into society. I know that often has a ring that is not as true as it might be, but in our case it has been functioning that way for many years," he said.
In addition to buying ICI of London, Huntsman Corp. also bought all of Europe's largest ethylene/ propylene manufacturing facility in Wilton, United Kingdom, of which ICI had 80 percent ownership and BP Amoco had 20 percent ownership.
The various acquisitions altogether create the single largest acquisition in the history of Huntsman Corp. They are expected to generate $8 billion in revenues annually.
These include ICI's polyurethanes, titanium dioxide, aromatics and petrochemicals businesses, along with their global manufacturing and technology and their leading market positions.
The polyurethanes, titanium dioxide and paraxylene acquired in the deal add three new products to the Huntsman portfolio and double the company's production capacity for another item.
Uses for these products include:
Polyurethane. This often is used for building insulation, construction materials, refrigeration insulation, auto and furniture seat cushioning, car steering wheels and the soles for athletic and other footwear.
Titanium dioxide. This is used to produce coloring agents to make paint and colored plastics brighter and to make paper whiter.
Aromatics. These are used in the production of chemicals for various plastics and consumer products. It is a primary component of clear plastic bottles that are used to bottle soft drinks, juices and water.
Ethylene. This is the primary product in the new petrochemical business and is the chemical industry's most basic building block. It is the base in all consumer goods that use chemicals and/or plastics. The acquisition now permits Huntsman's annual production capacity for ethylene to grow from 2 billion to 4 billion pounds.
Most major sites of the firm that have been acquired are in such countries as Belgium, England, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Spain, India, Pakistan, Japan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
Other large joint ventures are in Japan, South Africa and in Louisiana in the United States.
As a result of the purchase, Huntsman Corp. now employs more than 16,000 people and has a business presence in 34 countries.