Huntsman Corp. would make an offer for Rockwood Holdings Inc's titanium-dioxide pigments business. Jon Huntsman Sr. founded the U.S. chemicals producer. Three people familiar with the matter who did not want to be identified said Huntsman was still considering whether or not to make a deal.
The officials of Huntsman went to Germany to check Rockwood's Sachtleben unit. The company also assessed the possible savings from consolidating the unit with its own pigments operation.
Rockwood earned US$889 million from titanium oxide. Titanium oxide was technically known as TiO2 which was exactly its chemical formula. TiO2 acts as a whitener in paint and toothpaste. On the other hand, last year, the Salt Lake City-headquartered Huntsman had US$1.44 billion in pigment sales.
The agreement could create a titanium-dioxide producer of about 15% of the world's capacity. This would directly compete with the globe's second-largest, Cristal Global. The market leader was DuPont Co.
Peter Huntsman, Huntsman Chief Executive Officer, stated in April that the corporation wants "to be part of any consolidations in this industry."
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