Dow's SBR unit to be sold as part of newly formed Styron business

ERJ staff report (PRW)

Midland, Michigan -- Changes continue at Dow as the global plastics leader plans to sell off a newly formed unit that includes its SBR and SB-latex holdings.

The unit - named Styron - will include Dow's polystyrene, ABS, SAN, PC, styrene monomer, styrene-butadiene rubber and latex assets. Those businesses have annual sales of about $5bn. Officials at Midland, Mich.-based Dow hope to sell the unit for between $1bn and $2bn.

Until a buyer is found, the unit will have its own chief executive and chief financial officers, overseeing 1,500 employees at 40 plants worldwide. The unit also will include Dow's 50% share in Americas Styrenics, the PS/styrene joint venture that was formed with Chevron Phillips in 2007.

“These are good quality businesses with good earnings,” Dow chairman and ceo Andrew Liveris said. “But they're simply not core to our future direction.”

Longtime Dow executive Mark Remmert will serve as Styron's ceo, with fellow Dow veteran Celso Goncalves serving as CFO. Remmert most recently led Dow's engineering plastics business, while Goncalves was senior business finance director for Dow's portfolio optimisation efforts. Both executives have been with Dow for more than 30 years.

From PRW.com (A Crain publication)