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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Huntsman Cos. have acquired Luxembourg-based Vantico, a producer of high-tech coatings and epoxy resins and renamed it Huntsman Advanced Materials.
MatlinPatterson Global Opportunity Partners, which owns 49 percent of the Huntsman Cos., on Tuesday transferred ownership of Vantico to Huntsman.
The ownership transfer, completed after a financial restructuring of Vantico in which MatlinPatterson swapped millions of dollars in debt for equity and contributed $150 million in new cash to the business, increases the Huntsman Cos.' revenue by $1.2 billion a year.
"We now have complete management responsibility and financial control over Vantico," said Huntsman spokesman Don Olsen, who said the new holding will operate as part of Huntsman's polyurethanes and specialties division.
The combined Huntsman Cos. constitute the world's largest privately held chemical company. With the addition of the new advanced materials business, the conglomerate now will generate more than $9 billion a year in revenue and employ upward of 15,500 workers.
High-tech coatings that Huntsman Advanced Materials will provide are used to insulate electrical and electronic materials. Epoxy resins are widely used in the automotive and aircraft manufacturing industries.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
