CHEMICAL company ICI has agreed final terms for the sale of its remaining 30 per cent shareholding in Huntsman International Holdings - its former commodities division.
The arrangement could mean that ICI will have to wait well into 2003 for the money from Huntsman Speciality Chemicals.
The basic purchase price of $365m (£250m) remains the same as originally announced in November 2000, but the American buyer will have to pay interest until the money is handed over.
Failure to meet the deadline for final payment would bring an additional $32.7m penalty fee.
Former Teesside employer ICI sold 60 per cent of its commodities division to family- owned Huntsman for £1.7bn in 1999.
Net proceeds from the sale of the remaining shareholding are expected to amount, after tax deductions and other costs, to about £190m, which will be used by jobs-shedding ICI to pay off debts.
However, ICI expects to record a profit after tax of about £140m, although the prospect of the UK group not seeing its money until the third quarter of 2003 knocked 13.5p off the price of shares to 370p.
The deal is subject to regulatory approvals while Huntsman has pledged half of its holding in Huntsman International to ICI if it is unable to complete the purchase.
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