(Bloomberg) -- US chemicals group Huntsman Corp. is in advanced talks to sell its textiles unit to private equity firm SK Capital Partners, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The groups are discussing a deal that would value the business at less than $1 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. A final decision hasn’t been made and Huntsman could elect to keep the unit, the people said.
SK Capital could potentially combine the unit with Archroma, the business it built when it bought textile chemicals, paper specialties and emulsions assets from Swiss company Clariant AG in 2013.
A representative for Huntsman declined to comment. A spokesperson for SK Capital didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Huntsman, based in The Woodlands, Texas, announced in December that it was conducting a strategic review for the unit.
Huntsman had been embroiled with activist investor Starboard Value earlier this year with the group attempting to replace four directors in order to improve the chemical company’s financial performance. The effort failed, with all 10 board members re-elected as Huntsman touted its outperformance against its peer group.
The textile unit, which is headquartered in Singapore and makes dyes for cotton, wool, nylon, and polyester textiles, had about $100 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in 2021, according to a company statement.
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