FMC sells Wyoming mine in $1.6B deal
To help fund Cheminova pesticide buy
FMC Corp., the $4 billion (yearly sales) Philadelphia-based chemical company, says it has agreed to sell its Alkali Chemicals buisiness, and its mining and processing facilities in Green River, Wyoming -- "the largest global producer of natural soda ash," according to FMC -- to Connecticut-based Tronox Ltd. for $1.64 billion. Soda ash is used to make glass, paper, soaps and other products.
FMC chief executive Pierre Brondeau, in this statement, linked the Alkali sale to FMC's decision last year to pay $1.8 billion for Denmark-based pesticide maker Cheminova A/S.
The deal diversifies Tronox beyond its current lines, which include mineral sands and titanium dioxide (a white pigment whose other producers include Wilmington-based DuPont Co.'s soon-to-spin-off Chemtura business.) Tronox was formed by Kerr-McGee Corp. in 2005 amid litigation on funding the cleanup of toxic sites Kerr-McGee and its former business partners had polluted across the U.S., see for example EPA settlement statement here.
FMC, which plans to move its offices from Center City to Brandywine Realty Trust's new 49-story FMC tower in University City, has bought, sold and spun off numerous chemical businesses over the years. FMC's paid advisers in the Alkali-Tronox deal include investment banks BofA Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs and Co., and law firms Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Philadelphia-based Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.