February 24 (plasticsnews.com) -- Chemtura Corp. has a deal to sell its PVC additives business, but the buyer is not the stalking horse bidder that first emerged in December.
The buyer is Artek Aterian Holding Co. LLC, a company backed by Indian chemical company Artek Surfin Chemicals Ltd. and New York investment firm Aterian Investment Partners Distressed Opportunities LP.
Artek Aterian is paying $16.2 million in cash, plus assuming liabilities from Middlebury-based Chemtura, according to documents filed Feb. 23 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.
The purchase price trumps a stalking horse bid that Chemtura had signed on Dec. 23.
SK Capital Partners LP, a New York-based private equity firm, had signed the stalking horse bid of about $45 million. But the vast majority of that bid consisted of assumed liabilities. Artek Aterian's bid was worth about $18.2 million more to Chemtura's creditors.
Artek Surfin Chemicals is a Mumbai-based company that specializes in metal-finishing chemicals.
Aterian Investment Partners is a private equity firm that invests in small- to middle-market companies that are financially or operationally constrained. The company seeks partners with annual sales of $25 million to $500 million with strong market positions, in need of up to $50 million of capital.
Chemtura had filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors on March 18. Chemtura's PVC additives business had sales of $374 million in 2008, and $177 million for the first nine months of 2009.
Chemtura's PVC additives business makes tin stabilizers, liquid and solid mixed metals, liquid phosphite esters, epoxidized soybean oil, thiochemicals, organic-based stabilizers, and impact modifiers.