Bayer and Lanxess announced that they will sell their stakes in the chemical park operator Currenta to funds managed by the infrastructure investor Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA). Both companies signed corresponding agreements with MIRA on 6 August 2019. The transaction still requires the approval of the responsible authorities.
Currenta manages and operates infrastructure, energy supply and other essential services across the chemical parks in Leverkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen and is currently a joint venture of Bayer (60 %) and Lanxess (40 %). Currenta, including a transferred real estate portfolio by Bayer, is valued with a total enterprise value of EUR 3.5 billion before deduction of net debt and pension obligations.
Bayer’s stake in Currenta has an equity value of approximately EUR 1.17 billion (after deduction of net debt and pension obligations). In addition, in order to strengthen Currenta, Bayer is selling to it an extensive package of real estate and infrastructure for EUR 180 million. Bayer and MIRA have also reached an agreement on long-term service and supply contracts. Bayer had announced in November 2018 that it was looking to sell its stake in Currenta. The main reasons behind this are that Bayer’s position as a Chempark customer has changed following the carve-out of Covestro and that the company has stepped up its focus on its core activities. Bayer expects its part of the transaction to close in Q4 2019.
Lanxess as one of Currenta’s main customers will provide MIRA with operational support during the transition phase and will therefore continue to hold its stake in Currenta for several months longer. Thus, the company expects its transaction to be completed by the end of April 2020. The stake of Currenta held by Lanxess accounts for an equity value (after deduction of net debt and pensions) of approximately EUR 780 million pre tax. In addition, Lanxess is entitled to a profit participation until completion of the transaction. Moreover, Lanxess has reached an agreement with MIRA on service and supply contracts for the three sites in Leverkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld, which will initially run for ten years. Lanxess operates a significant portion of its global production facilities there.
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www.mirafunds.com