US Huntsman to pay off $250m in debt, will take Q1 charge

11 January 2010 20:02  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Huntsman will repurchase $250m (€173m) in convertible notes from its December 2008 terminated merger agreement with Hexion and record an early extinguishment of debt loss of about $146m in the first quarter, the US producer said on Monday.

Huntsman said it will spend $382m to repurchase the entire $250m principal amount of its outstanding 7% convertible notes from the previous settlement agreement with Apollo Management, Hexion’s parent company.

“As a result of our strong balance sheet and unique cash position, we are able to repurchase these notes prior to their maturity,” chief executive Peter Huntsman said. “In addition to reducing our outstanding debt, this repurchase avoids the dilution of our shareholder base that would otherwise occur upon conversion of these notes.”

The notes mature on 23 December 2018 and are convertible into about 31.8m shares of Huntsman common stock at any time by the holders, according to the company.

($1 = €0.69)

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By: Ben DuBose
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