CHEMICALS company ICI has severed its links with the bulk chemicals business acquired by the US-based Huntsman Corporation.

ICI has received £110m for selling part of its 30 per cent stake in Huntsman International and is expected to pick up the remaining £185m by May next year.

The date for the completion of the sale is now about three months earlier than ICI had anticipated at the end of last year.

An ICI spokesman said the timing of the first payment and the proposed deadline for the remainder were both sooner than anticipated.

Chief executive Brendan O'Neill said the arrangements represented a "good deal for ICI and its shareholders".

He added: "It delivers excellent value overall, enables us to turn part of our investment into cash now and to get the remainder earlier than previously anticipated. It also means we can further focus our attention on building and developing our own businesses within the speciality products and paints markets."

The sale comes three years after the Huntsman group acquired the bulk chemicals business of ICI for £1.8bn.

ICI kept a 30 per cent stake in Huntsman International with an option to sell for about £300m at a later date.

The majority of the money, which is being paid by Credit Suisse First Boston Global Opportunities Partners, will be put towards reducing ICI's debt mountain, which stood at £2.4bn at the end of March.

Huntsman ICI Holdings (HICI) was a joint venture established in 1999 by the two businesses to run tioxide, polyuerethanes and petrochemical facilities on Teesside.