Olin Corp. and Huntsman Corp. announced June 16 that they have merged in an all-stock deal that creates a chemicals company with more than $12 billion in annual sales.
Kirkland & Ellis advised Huntsman with a team of nearly five dozen lawyers, including about 17 from Texas. The team was led by Rachael Coffey in New York and Brittany Scheier in Houston. Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Sidley Austin advised Olin. The Sidley team was led by Corey Roush in Washington, D.C.
The companies said in a news release that the merger combines Olin’s manufacturing and feedstock capabilities, including chlorine and caustic soda, with Huntsman’s downstream products and formulation expertise.
Shareholders of Huntsman, which is based in The Woodlands, will receive 0.5476 shares of Olin for every share held, and Olin shareholders will own about 54.5 percent of the combined company, with Huntsman shareholders owning the other 45.5 percent. Its NYSE-listed stock was trading at $13.18 Tuesday afternoon.
NYSE-listed shares of Olin Corp., which is based in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, Missouri, were trading at $23.81 on Tuesday afternoon.
“Huntsman has built an impressive portfolio of polyurethane systems, formulation technologies and advanced materials serving technical, application-driven end markets,” Olin President and CEO Ken Lane said in the release. “By integrating those capabilities with Olin’s world-scale chemicals assets and operations and identified synergies and benefits, we will create an industry leader with greater flexibility to serve customers across the value chain, generate stronger cash flow across the cycle and pursue opportunities that neither business could fully capture on its own.”
Huntsman CEO Peter Huntsman said, “this merger of equals takes two great companies and creates a much stronger global leader.”
Lane was named CEO of the combined OlinHuntsman, while Huntsman will serve as non-executive chairman of the board. Huntsman Chief Financial Officer Phil Lister will assume the same role with the new entity.
The companies expect the merger to provide $300 million in cost and integration benefits within three years, with an additional $100 million in raw material integration benefits starting in 2031. The companies said Olin’s ammunition business, Winchester, will continue to operate as a key business within the combined company.
Other Kirkland Texas lawyers who advised Huntsman include Ben Samway, Karsten Busby, Layton Bell, Daly C.S. Brower, Alex Clark and Brett Ackerman in Dallas; Anna Haynes, Rachael Lichman, Abigail Wallin, James Dolphin, Christie Alcala, Jon Link and Dylan White in Houston; and Olivia Rochelle Schmertzler and Brad Jorgensen in Austin.
Stephen Jacobson works from Houston and New York, while Daisy Darvall has offices in New York and Austin.
The Kirkland attorneys who provided counsel from New York include Lilly Rohan, Daniel Wolf, Grace Slicklen, Bella Parise, Arjun Mocherla, Adam Kool, Ian John, Ross Leff, Sarah Lipinski and Jennifer Sheehan.
From Washington, Stephen Mohr, Jeffrey Ayer, John Smaltz, Catherine Kordestani, Lauren Taylor, Caitlin Meagher-Kreisel, Andrew Current, Sam Kamyans, Scott La Rochelle, Don Hong and Adelaide Daughtridge.
Kirkland lawyers who advised from Chicago include James Sprague, Brady Sweet, Dan Sotos, Grant W. Rasmussen, Nick Niles, Jason Klein and Shawn Xuyuan Yang.
Erika Krum works from London and Washington, D.C. Laura Beuls provided counsel from Brussels with Paul Tanaka and Martin Schwertmann from San Francisco with Sarah S. Yang and Lauren Au from Los Angeles.
Additionally, the principal of David Fox & Co. (retired Kirkland New York managing partner David Fox) also served as an advisor to Huntsman, according to the release.
The Sidley Austin team included Sarah Scheinman in Washington, D.C., and Taylor Randleman in New York. Rosanna Connolly and Arthur Clover advised from London with Sven De Knop and Alessandra Moroni from Brussels. Vincent Brophy, who works from London and Brussels, also provided counsel.