Carlyle to sell PQ unit in antitrust deal
June 30th, 2008 | by admin |WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - Carlyle Partners IV, aprivate equity group, has agreed to sell a sodium silicateplant in order to gain approval to buy INEOS Group Ltd’s sodiumsilicate and silicas business, the Federal Trade Commissionsaid on Monday.
The commission said it challenged the original deal becauseit would have meant the merger of PQ Corp — the largest sodiumsilicate producer in the Midwest — with INEOS, No. 3 in thearea.
The product is used in cements, passive fire protection andlumber processing.
Under the deal hammered out with the FTC, Carlyle will sellPQ’s sodium silicate plant and businesses in Utica, Illinois.
Carlyle said in October it planned to combine PQ Corp andINEOS Silicas to make a global chemical producer. Under thedeal, Carlyle would own 60 percent of the company while INEOSwould own 40 percent.
Carlyle did not disclose terms of the transaction but saidit expected the combined company to have revenues in excess of$1 billion. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
