LANXESS: Petroflex to become a wholly owned subsidiary

The tender offer by specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG for the remaining shares of Petroflex S.A. in Brazil has been met with great interest. Under the public tender offer to the minority stockholders LANXESS has acquired a further 27 percent of Petroflex shares, giving it a total interest of around 97 percent in the company. The offer period ended on October 16, 2008. This high acceptance rate enables LANXESS to acquire all the remaining shares by way of a squeeze-out and thus to become the sole owner of Petroflex.

The success of the offer also means that Petroflex can be delisted from the stock exchange. The purchase price for the 27 percent of the share capital now acquired is equivalent to about EUR 60 million. In the tender offer, LANXESS had offered the minimum price which is required by law to be paid to holders of common shares. As previously announced the total price for 100 percent of the shares including net debt therefore amounts to about EUR 370 million.

Said LANXESS CEO Axel C. Heitmann: “I’m pleased with the positive response to our offer. Now that we are about to successfully complete the acquisition procedure, we can focus our energies on further integrating Petroflex into the Group.” The German based group purchased a majority shareholding in Petroflex earlier this year. This acquisition has allowed LANXESS, one of the leading global suppliers of synthetic rubbers, to significantly improve its presence in the South American region.