Disposals Could Net 4.5 Bn

Unilever Plc could raise around 4.5 billion sterling from the sale of its four speciality chemicals divisions but the size of the businesses being sold puts them out of the reach of British suitors, analysts said on Tuesday.

Buyers for the four divisions would probably come from the US or continental Europe, they said.

Annual turnover for the four businesses US-based National Starch and Chemical Company, Quest International and Unichema International of the Netherlands, and the UKs Crosfield was 3 billion sterling, Unilever said.

Chairman Niall FitzGerald said he hoped to conclude a sale within the next three to six months for all or part of the speciality chemicals division, but declined to say how much it might be worth.

They have good margins of around 14 percent, which are pretty stable, so 4.5 to 5.0 billion sterling would be a likely price, said a chemicals analyst at Credit Lyonnais Laing.

I cant really see anyone in the UK buying them, theyre too big, he said.

As a single entity they are beyond the scope of anyone elsewhere in the quoted sector.

The analyst said even if they were sold separately, the businesses would be unlikely to find a British buyer.

The only company in the sector in a position to make an acquisition of more than a billion pounds would be ICI and I dont think any of the areas that Unilever are in would be of any interest to them, he said. A buyer would have to come from one of the big European majors.

Market sources said National Starch had annual turnover of up to 1.7 billion sterling and would probably fetch 1.3-1.5 times sales. Quest and Unichema were likely to have combined sales of around 1.3 billion and would cost about 1.5 times sales.