Clariant's Planned Sabic Tie Up Falls Victim to Chemicals Slump
- Move comes a day after Clariant CEO resigned unexpectedly
- Swiss firm cites market conditions for halting venture talks
Photographer: Adrian Moser/Bloomberg
Clariant AG suspended a planned $3.1 billion specialty-plastics venture with anchor investor Saudi Basic Industries Corp., falling victim to a sharp downturn in the global chemicals market that threatens to sabotage its transformation into a higher-margin company.
The stock dropped as much as 10.6%, the most since Jan. 2018. The announcement came a day after the sudden departure of Chief Executive Officer Ernesto Occhiello, a well-regarded industry veteran whose resignation was officially attributed to “personal reasons.” Clariant Chairman Hariolf Kottmann, who will resume Occhiello’s duty’s for the time being, said in a telephone interview the two companies struggled to agree on how much their respective businesses were worth, and that talks may resume once market conditions stabilize.