shroomalien
10 years ago
Great news!
FMC Corporation Announces Agreement to Acquire Cheminova for $1.8 Billion
- Denmark-headquartered multinational crop protection company
- Broadens market access in key geographic regions
- Expands position in existing crop segments and accelerates access to additional crops
- Provides new technology applications, including research and formulation expertise
- Enhances portfolio with complementary products and technologies
- Accretive to adjusted earnings in the first full year
- Modifies previously announced separation process with plan to divest Alkali Chemicals; proceeds used to reduce acquisition-related debt
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cheminova A/S, a wholly owned subsidiary of Auriga Industries A/S. Cheminova is a multinational crop protection company based in Denmark. FMC will fund the all-cash acquisition through a mixture of debt and existing cash reserves. The transaction is expected to close in early 2015 and will be accretive to adjusted earnings in the first full year following the acquisition.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111101/NE97440LOGO
"We are very excited about the opportunity to combine Cheminova with our own Agricultural Solutions business," said Pierre Brondeau, FMC Corporation president, CEO and chairman. "Cheminova is a company that we have long considered to be an attractive potential partner. It follows a similar strategic approach to FMC in applying technology to deliver solutions to its customers, and has a highly complementary product portfolio and geographic footprint. This transaction will broaden our Agricultural Solutions portfolio and significantly strengthen our market access in key agricultural end markets.
"Cheminova's direct market access in Europe, combined with its strong position in Latin America, will help bring greater balance to our business. Its technology will allow us to expand our position in existing crop segments and provide accelerated access to additional crops, such as cereals. It will also strengthen our offerings to existing customers, especially in sugarcane, soybeans and cotton."
Brondeau added that Cheminova brings complementary technologies in insecticides and herbicides, significantly enhances FMC's fungicide portfolio and adds a growing micronutrient business. "Cheminova has a portfolio of more than 60 active ingredients, over 2,300 registrations and a pipeline of active ingredients currently under development. It is the addition of this broad suite of technology that is particularly exciting to us, and we firmly expect to increase our pace of new product launches in the coming seasons as a direct result of adding Cheminova's capabilities to ours," said Brondeau.
FMC will modify its previously announced separation plans by pursuing a sale of Alkali Chemicals. Commenting on this decision, Brondeau said, "FMC is committed to its strong balance sheet and a sale of Alkali Chemicals will allow us to de-lever to a point that is appropriate for our business profile. Alkali Chemicals is a well-run, highly profitable and cash generative business, and we are confident it will attract many interested buyers. We expect to complete this sale by mid-2015."
FMC Lithium will be retained as a separate operating segment.
Additional Information
The acquisition is expected to close in early 2015 and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. It will be financed with committed debt facilities. FMC anticipates achieving synergies through a combination of production and operating efficiency gains, as well as improved market access. FMC expects the transaction to be accretive to adjusted earnings in the first full year following completion of the acquisition.
Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisor and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as legal counsel to FMC in connection with the acquisition. Citigroup provided additional financial advice and committed debt facilities.
Conference Call
FMC Corporation will conduct a conference call and webcast presentation at 8:30 a.m. ET on September 8, 2014. This event will be available live and as a replay at http://www.fmc.com. The company will post supplemental information at http://www.fmc.com, including a slide presentation that will be used during the conference call.
Webcast Conference Call: September 8, 2014 at 8:30 a.m. ET. The live call is open to the public via internet broadcast and telephone.
Internet broadcast: www.fmc.com
Passcode: FMC
Dial-in telephone numbers:
U.S. / Canada: (800) 230-1059
International: (612) 234-9959
Conference ID # 336317
Webcast Conference Call Replay: Available via the internet and telephone at 11:00 a.m. ET on September 8, 2014.
Internet replay: www.fmc.com
U.S. / Canada telephone number: (800) 475-6701
International telephone number: (320) 365-3844
Conference ID # 336317
About FMC Corporation
FMC Corporation is a diversified chemical company serving agricultural, industrial and consumer markets globally for more than a century with innovative solutions, applications and quality products. In 2013, FMC had annual sales of approximately $3.9 billion. The company employs approximately 5,600 people throughout the world, and operates its businesses in three segments: FMC Agricultural Solutions, FMC Health and Nutrition, and FMC Minerals. For more information, visit www.FMC.com.
About Cheminova A/S
Cheminova A/S is a wholly owned operating company of Auriga Industries A/S, which is listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. It develops, produces and markets crop protection products. All activities are carried out with due consideration for the environment and in compliance with ever higher sustainability standards. The products are sold in more than 100 countries, and 98% of sales are generated outside Denmark. In 2013, the group posted revenue of DKK 6.6 billion and has more than 2,200 employees in a global organization with subsidiaries in 24 countries. Find more information on www.cheminova.com.
eaglesurvivor
14 years ago
Major Lithium Producer to Transfer Cathode Patents
Wed, Feb 2, 2011 Feature Articles, Lithium Articles
By Dave Brown —Exclusive to Lithium Investing News
A top lithium producer, FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) recently announced that Belgium-based materials technology group Umicore (EBR:UMI) will be acquiring a series of FMC product and process patents covering “high end active cathode materials.” This patented technology increases the performance and safety for lithium-ion batteries that utilize lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) and mixed metal lithium oxides (NMC) as the cathode material. The patent family covers a unique way of stabilizing cathode material at the molecular structure level that avoids degradation of battery performance even at severe operating conditions such as high temperature, high charge and discharge rate and large number of cycles. Ultimately, the patented technology could lower the costs for li-ion batteries.
Umicore’s activities are focused on multiple business segments with global industrial operations to serve a broad customer base. Umicore generates approximately 50 percent of its revenues and spends approximately 80 percent of its research and development budget in the area of clean technology, such as emission control catalysts, materials for rechargeable batteries and photovoltaics, fuel cells, and recycling.
The market responded strongly to the news release from FMC sending share prices to the $79.96 range from the previous trading session on a volume of shares traded over 24 percent greater than the previous day. On Monday, January 3rd analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded ratings and price target for shares of FMC from $90.00 to $100.00 in a research note to investors.
Leveraged strategic alliances
Umicore has additionally formed a partnership with electric automobile manufacturer Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) to establish a lithium-ion battery recycling program in Europe. Under the agreement, Umicore will recycle Tesla’s used lithium-ion battery packs, converting the materials into an alloy that will be refined into individual components such as cobalt, nickel and other metals. During the final recycling step, Umicore will transform, via specialized processing methods, the remaining cobalt into lithium cobalt oxide, which it will then market to battery manufacturers.
A byproduct of Umicore’s lithium-ion battery recycling is an inert slag material, which contains calcium oxides and lithium and can be utilized in the construction of roadways. Umicore claims that its proprietary battery recycling technology, which recovers metals, cuts back on the need to extract these components from the ground, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 70 percent.
Tesla claims that its battery packs will last, on average, seven to ten years under normal driving condition of approximately 160,000 kilometres. Additionally, Tesla highlights that drivers will not be charged an extra fee for recycling spent batteries.
European development
Last week a report from the Future Transport Fuel Expert Group on Clean Transport Systems (CTS) was presented to the European Commission’s Mobility and Transport division. The study was designed to assess possible scenarios that can provide full substitution of fossil oil as fuel for transport by 2050, and progressively move to environmentally preferred transport alternatives.
The study designed a number of potential scenarios to completely address the energy demand of the transport sector with sustainable and secure carbon dioxide free sources by 2050. The quantitative assessment includes a cost-benefit analysis and address the availability of feedstock of the different fuels, resources required, security of supply, market potential, technological issues, economic viability and industrial, social and demographic aspects.
The group of industry experts on future transport fuels stated ambitiously that in order to reduce carbon emissions in Europe, transport must be oil free and largely carbon dioxide free within the next 40 years. According to the report, fossil fuels could be gradually replaced over the coming years, most likely by a mix of different sources, including electricity and biofuels.
Given the backdrop of Asian and US policy driven interest and commitment to electric vehicles, the European Commission appears to be examining forecasts, models and options which could permanently change the continental transport infrastructure. The potential for the lithium mining, development and exploration sector may just be realizing truly global secular trends.
http://lithiuminvestingnews.com/2661/major-lithium-producer-to-transfer-cathode-patents/
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