Eastman Chemical Company on November 1 announced it had completed the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Eastman SE Inc., to FutureFuel Corp. Included in the sale are Eastman's Batesville, Ark., manufacturing facility and its related assets and product lines that had been a part of the company's performance chemicals and intermediates segment.
The facility, which has approximately 400 employees, manufactures specialty organic chemicals products and has a growing presence in the biodiesel market. The sale is for a purchase price of $75 million plus an earn-out based on biodiesel sales over the next three years.
In July 2006, Eastman announced plans to sell the site because the growth opportunities for the site did not fit with the company's focus of driving growth in its core businesses.
"This divestiture is expected to result in a better alignment of Eastman's resources with our strategy," said Jim Rogers, president of Eastman Chemical Company and head of the chemicals and fibers business group. "And, we believe that FutureFuel Chemical Company is positioned well to explore the unique growth opportunities available to the site."
Eastman Chemical manufactures and markets chemicals, fibers and plastics worldwide. It provides key differentiated coatings, adhesives and specialty plastics products; is the world’s largest producer of PET polymers for packaging; and is a major supplier of cellulose acetate fibers.
