Blackstone Said to Be in Talks to Buy Polymer Group
Blackstone Group LP is in exclusive talks to buy Polymer Group Inc., a chemical company majority- owned by MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The companies are still in negotiations and an announcement isn’t imminent, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. Polymer jumped $2.30, or 12 percent, to $22.30 at 3:59 p.m. New York time in over-the- counter trading, valuing the company at $478.5 million.
MatlinPatterson, the New York-based investment firm founded by David Matlin and Mark Patterson, have held a majority stake in Charlotte, North Carolina-based Polymer Group since recapitalizing the company and helping it emerge from bankruptcy protection in 2003. It had earlier amassed a stake in the company’s debt.
Private-equity firms are buying and selling assets from each other to boost returns after payouts dwindled when the credit crisis stymied dealmaking. Some of the largest leveraged buyouts this year, such as those of Michael Foods Inc., Ontex NV, and Vertafore Inc., involved one private-equity firm selling to another.
Blackstone is also acting as an adviser to Polymer through its corporate advisory unit. A representative from Polymer couldn’t immediately be reached to comment, and a spokeswoman for MatlinPatterson had no comment. A Blackstone spokeswoman also declined to comment.
Polymer Group generates more than 90 percent of its sales from nonwovens, including materials used in disposable diapers, surgical gowns and drapes, and disposable wipes. The company, which acquired Johnson & Johnson’s medical nonwovens business in 1995, says it is the world’s largest maker of nonwoven medical fabrics.
Nonwoven competitors include DuPont Co., the third-biggest U.S. chemical company.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jeffrey McCracken in New York at jmccracken3@bloomberg.net; Zachary R. Mider in New York at zmider1@bloomberg.net; Jason Kelly in New York at jkelly14@bloomberg.net.
Rate These Stories
Rate this Page