Kraton announced on 19 February 2019 that it has initiated a process to review strategic alternatives for its Cariflex isoprene rubber (IR) business, which may result in a sale of that business.
„We believe that the high-margin Cariflex business and its attractive growth prospects are not appropriately valued as part of Kraton,“ said Kevin M. Fogarty, Kraton’s President and CEO. „Moreover, in keeping with our strategy to continually manage our portfolio to drive value creation, we believe that a focus on enhancing Kraton’s core businesses, while strengthening the balance sheet to position the company to take advantage of future growth opportunities, represents the best use of capital at this time”.
„Over the last few years, we have driven down costs, generated cash to reduce indebtedness, and expanded our leadership position in our Polymer business, while adding a highly complementary Chemical segment. We are extremely proud of our Cariflex franchise, developed and commercialized largely over the past 10 years by an extremely talented and dedicated global business team,“ said Fogarty. „Nevertheless, Cariflex for the most part is a standalone business at Kraton, with minimal revenue or cost overlap with our Polymer and Chemical segments. For this reason, we believe this business could be a strong strategic fit with several players that are better positioned to realize valuable synergies associated with it and unlock its full value […],“ Fogarty added.