Venator sales boost Huntsman’s value

Article Excerpt

HUNTSMAN CORP. $31 (New York symbol HUN; Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 241.7 million; Market cap: $7.5 billion; Takeover Target Rating: Lowest; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.huntsman.com) is perhaps best known as the creator of the styrofoam clamshell container for McDonald’s Big Mac hamburgers. Today, the company is a leading producer of specialty chemicals for makers of adhesives, textiles, construction materials, paints, detergents and automotive products. In August 2017, Huntsman used an initial public offering (IPO) to sell 26.1 million shares of its subsidiary Venator (see right) for $20.00 a share. It later sold an additional 25.0 million Venator shares at $22.50 each. Huntsman retains about 53% of the independent firm. To cut its total debt from $4.2 billion at the end of 2016 to $2.3 billion at the end of 2017, Huntsman used $1.7 billion from the sale of its Venator shares. Its current reduced debtload is a manageable 31% of the company’s market cap. Huntsman also ended 2017 with…