Kraton completes sale of Cariflex business

Houston, Texas – US polymer group Kraton Corp. has completed the sale of its Cariflex polyisoprene products business to Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. for $530 million (€467 million) cash, the company announced 6 March.

The sale of Cariflex to Daelim was disclosed 30 Oct, eight months after Kraton said it was considering the possibility of divesting Cariflex.

While Cariflex is a profitable speciality business, said Kraton President and CEO Kevin Fogarty, it had little revenue or cost overlap with Kraton's core polymer and chemical segments.

Isoprene rubber latex supplier Cariflex contributed earnings (adjusted EBITDA) of $50.5 million to Kraton’s results in 2018. 

"We believe this segment could be a strong strategic fit with several players which are better positioned to realise valuable synergies associated with it and unlock its full value," Fogarty said at the time.

Daelim Industrial is the flagship company of the South Korean conglomerate Daelim Group. 

It is active in the petrochemical, engineering and construction industries and had sales of $9.8 billion in fiscal 2018.

"We believe Daelim is well-positioned to invest in and grow the Cariflex franchise as it continues to expand its global business," Fogarty said after the sale.