| | Altana displays interest in Rockwood |
| |
CreateTime:2008-06-05 Editor:liaoyan
Text Size:
 
|
| |
ALTANA AG, the world's largest maker of additives for coatings and plastic parts, may be interested in parts of United States chemicals maker Rockwood Holdings Inc, said Chief Executive Officer Matthias Wolfgruber yesterday.
"Not all of it would be suitable, but parts would fit," Wolfgruber said in an interview with Bloomberg News. "There are no talks." He said it is possible Altana could make acquisitions this year.
The Bad Homburg, Germany-based company is seeking takeovers that would add between 200 million euros (US$309 million) and 2 billion euros in annual sales, expanding its share of the specialty chemicals market.
Altana denied in March that it plans to buy Princeton, New Jersey-based Rockwood, which is the world's largest maker of metal-based chemicals.
"We're looking at strategic acquisitions, and Rockwood is a name we can't exclude," Wolfgruber said.
Altana has lost 28 percent in Frankfurt trading this year, cutting the market value to 1.65 billion euros. The stock traded at 11.73 euros at 12:48pm yesterday.
Existing businesses are expected to grow "solidly" in 2008 and pre-tax earnings will probably amount to 19 percent of annual revenue, Wolfgruber said, narrowing a previous margin forecast of 18 to 20 percent. Altana expects revenue and earnings to increase by at least 10 percent this year.
|