Japanese specialty chemical company Kuraray Co Ltd is to acquire the US activated carbon manufacturer Calgon Carbon Corp in a deal valued at more than US$1.3 billion.
Kuraray will pay US$21.50 per share in cash for New York Stock Exchange-listed Calgon Carbon. Once the deal closes, Calgon Carbon will be delisted from the NYSE and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuraray.
The acquisition will be completed through a merger of a newly-created Kuraray subsidiary with and into Calgon Carbon, with Calgon Carbon as the surviving corporation.
Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Calgon Carbon specialises in activated carbon, filtration media and ultraviolet technology solutions. The company employs around 1400 people and operates 20 manufacturing, reactivation, innovation and equipment fabrication facilities in the US, Asia and in Europe. Calgon Carbon is known as Chemviron in Europe.
Kuraray intends to operate Calgon Carbon as a separate subsidiary.
In a statement, Kuraray’s representative director and president Masaaki Ito said: “For Kuraray, the integration of Calgon Carbon’s excellent employees all around the world, their R&D and sales expertise, and their manufacturing operations will contribute to the expansion of our carbon materials business, which leads our key strategic areas such as ‘water and environment,’ and ‘energy.’ Together, Kuraray and Calgon Carbon will help advance human health and environmental sustainability by providing high performance carbon materials to the market.”
Randy Dearth, Calgon Carbon’s chairman, president and CEO, said: “Not only does this transaction deliver premium value to our stockholders, it also benefits our customers and employees by making Calgon Carbon part of a much larger, stronger global company with resources to fully support our global activated carbon, filtration media and service businesses now, and well into the future.”