Huntsman Corp. is spinning off its pigments business into an entity called Venator Materials Corp., which will start trading as its own company by the end of June,
the FuelFix website reported.
Huntsman values the pigments business at more than $2 billion, the article said.
“Venator” is the Latin word for “hunter,” a play on the family name, the report noted.
The legacy company will retain its textile effects business, which originally was planned to be included in the spinoff, the article said.
Venator will focus primarily on the titanium dioxide chemical, used as a pigment in food coloring, paints, coatings and sunscreen, the article said. “The business is more cyclical than Huntsman's other divisions and prone to more financial peaks and valleys,” the report said.
“Huntsman Corp. became the world's second-largest pigments producer two years ago after buying more than $1 billion in plants from New York-based Rockwood Holdings,” the article said.
Huntsman CEO Peter Huntsman told FuelFix that “he bought the Rockwood assets at a cyclical low, but that trough lasted tow years longer than expected and dragged down the value of Huntsman Corp.,” the article said. The company hopes to use proceeds from the spinoff for acquisitions, according to the report. (Source: FuelFix, Jan. 17, 2017.)
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