German specialty chemicals company Lanxess and Saudi Aramco on April 1, 2016 completed the formation of their 50:50 joint venture for synthetic rubber, Arlanxeo. The deal was first announced in September 2015, and all relevant antitrust authorities had cleared the transaction by February 2016.
With the closing of the transaction, a 50 percent share in the joint venture Arlanxeo was transferred to Dutch Saudi Aramco subsidiary, Aramco Overseas Holdings Cooperatief U A. In return, Lanxess received cash proceeds of around Euro 1.2 billion.
Lanxess plans to invest around Euro 400 million of the proceeds from the transaction in organic growth. Another roughly Euro 400 million is earmarked for a further reduction of its financial debt position and around Euro 200 million are planned to be used for a share buyback program.
With the launch of Arlanxeo, the composition of the company’s shareholders’ committee was also announced. It is chaired by Lanxess’ chairman of the board of management Matthias Zachert. Warren W Wilder, vice president chemicals at Saudi Aramco, is vice chairman. The additional members of Arlanxeo’s Shareholders’ Committee are Michael Pontzen, Lanxess’ chief financial officer, and Khalid H Al-Dabbagh, controller at Saudi Aramco.
