Lyondell Chemical to Buy Millennium for $1 Billion
Houston, TX, Mar. 29--Lyondell Chemical Co. agreed to buy Millennium Chemicals Inc. for $1 billion in stock to form North America's No. 3 independent, publicly traded chemical producer.
Millennium shareholders will receive 0.95 shares of Lyondell stock if the 20-day average Lyondell stock price is $20.50 or greater, and 1.05 shares if it is $16.50 or less, the companies said in a PRNewswire statement. Based on recent trading, Lyondell will pay about $1 billion in shares and assume $1.3 billion of Millennium's debt, the companies said.
The combined company will retain Lyondell's name and headquarters in Houston. Two Millennium directors will join the Lyondell board. The acquisition combines the owners of Equistar, North America's fourth-largest maker of polyethylene, the world's most commonly used plastic.
The acquisition also makes Lyondell a leading producer of propylene oxide, titanium dioxide, and acetyls, Lyondell said. The combined companies will operate in 16 countries and employ about 10,000 people.
