Huntsman Corp. confirmed Friday that it plans to donate its headquarters facility in Research Park to the Jon and Karen Huntsman Foundation by 2009.
However, the company says that does not mean it is packing its bags for the Lone Star State.
The Salt Lake-based company, which has its administrative headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas, said in a proxy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday that it will donate its $10.6 million headquarters building, 500 Huntsman Way, to the family foundation by Nov. 30, 2009.
While the company "has been moving to Texas" for years as part of a gradual transition, Huntsman Corp. spokesman Don Olsen said Friday that Salt Lake City "remains a very important location for this company."
"This is not a signal that anybody is pulling up stakes and leaving Utah," Olsen said. "We have said from day one that The Woodlands is our administrative headquarters. Our world headquarters, as we have said in so many places and so many times, is in Salt Lake City, and will remain in Salt Lake City."
The company's chairman, Jon Huntsman Sr., is in Salt Lake City, Olsen said, as are its chief financial officer, chief legal counsel, treasurer and key support staff. None of the key personnel located in Salt Lake City have immediate plans to move to Texas, he said.
Huntsman employs 60 to 70 people in Salt Lake City and about 600 in Texas. The company leases office space in Texas and owns a 200,000-square-foot technical center there that opened in October, Olsen said.
According to the SEC filing, Huntsman Corp. will retain the right to lease space in the Salt Lake headquarters facility after it is donated to the foundation. And that, Olsen said, fits into Jon Huntsman Sr.'s goal to focus more time — and money — on charitable works.
Huntsman is "a major shareholder in the company," Olsen said. "But the time will come, as he has said, when he will monetize his holdings and put money into the foundation. . . . This is the same type of issue.
"Nothing has changed from what we said about four years ago" in a similar proxy statement filed with the SEC, Olsen said. "What it outlines is a long-term view — that if the foundation should take the building at some time, the company has the right to lease space back. And that goes to the benefit of the foundation, which is (Jon Huntsman Sr.'s) driving force. He takes the building, and the company leases space back, which inures to the benefit of the foundation."
Olsen's reassurances had Utah's business community sighing with relief Friday.
"The contributions of Huntsman Corporation to our state have been tremendous," said Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. "Having their headquarters in Salt Lake has been a testament to the Huntsman family's commitment to our community. Knowing that they will keep the personal Huntsman offices here will continue to be a wonderful asset."
James Wood, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah, said it is a loss whenever a corporate headquarters leaves Utah.
"Certainly, the state and its economic development people go to great efforts to try to get corporate headquarters here, so it's a bit of a blow when one of them leaves," Wood said.
And Huntsman Corp. is "certainly important," he said, "in real terms, and symbolically, for Utah."
Also in the SEC filing Friday, Huntsman Corp. reported that Chief Executive Officer Peter Huntsman's salary was $12.1 million last year. Peter Huntsman, 43, received $1.4 million in salary, a $2.75 million bonus, $3.45 million in restricted stock and $226,840 in other compensation, such as use of a company airplane, the company said in the filing. He also got 454,950 stock options valued by Bloomberg News at $4.26 million. In 2004, Peter Huntsman's compensation totaled $2.96 million.
Jon Huntsman Sr., 69, the company founder and father of Peter Huntsman, received $2.4 million in compensation last year, including $950,000 in consulting fees and a $1.21 million bonus, the company said in its filing. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., the brother of Peter Huntsman, received $163,452 last year, mostly for personal use of a company plane.
Huntsman Corp. stock rose 13 cents Friday to close at $18.97 per share on the New York Stock Exchange. In the past year, the price has ranged from $16.50 to $24.44.
Contributing: Bloomberg News
E-mail: jnii@desnews.com