US Huntsman pays $15m in consulting fees to founder

30 March 2009 16:52  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Huntsman paid founder and chairman Jon Huntsman $15m (€11.3m) in consulting fees last year for his work in settling a lawsuit against Apollo, a development which the company did not immediately respond to on Monday.

The payment was mentioned in a footnote in the company’s 2008 annual report.

Huntsman sued Apollo last year after the buyout firm walked away from a $10.6bn takeover agreement between Huntsman and Hexion Specialty Chemicals, a company owned by Apollo.

By December, Huntsman opted to accept a $1bn settlement, far under the $3bn the company initially sought from Apollo in the lawsuit.

Huntsman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

However, Huntsman board member Nolan Archibald told The Wall Street Journal that he believed Jon Huntsman “saved the company” by negotiating the settlement and raising much-needed capital in a timely manner.

Moreover, Archibald said the payment was not a bonus, but a one-time performance fee equivalent to 1.5% of the overall $1bn settlement, the Wall Street Journal reported

Huntsman also paid $43m in fees to its legal counsel for the settlement, Houston-based Vinson & Elkins, according to the annual report.

($1 = €0.75)

For more on Huntsman or Hexion visit ICIS company intelligence
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By: Ben DuBose
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