MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asahi Kasei Corp, a Japanese chemicals maker, said it would buy Polypore International Inc's Energy Storage segment for USD2.2 billion, as it seeks to expand in the energy and environment business, said Reuters.
Asahi Kasei will acquire all of the outstanding shares of North Carolina-based Polypore for USD60.50 a share, representing an enterprise value for the company of approximately USD3.2 billion, the companies said. Polypore shares closed at USD52.95 on Friday.
Immediately prior to the acquisition, 3M Co will buy the assets of Polypore's Separations Media segment for approximately USD1 billion and Asahi Kasei will receive the cash proceeds from the asset sale, they said.
The transactions have been approved by the boards of directors of Asahi Kasei, 3M, and Polypore.
As MRC wrote previously, Asahi Kasei’s (Tokyo, Japan) Fibers division will expand production capacity for polypropylene spunbond nonwovens in Thailand at its subsidiary Asahi Kasei Spunbond (Thailand) Co. AKST will add a new production line of 20,000 metric tons per year capacity which, combined with its existing production line, will double its capacity for spunbond nonwovens to 40,000 m.t/yr. The investment for the capacity expansion is approximately USD5 billion, with a scheduled startup of November 2015.
Asahi Kasei Corporation is a global Japanese chemical company. Its main products are chemicals and materials science.
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