AkzoNobel Sells National Starch

AkzoNobel is selling National Starch to Corn Products for $1.3 billion in cash plus the assumption of pension and other employee liabilities. The business had earnings before taxes of roughly $150 million on sales of about $1.2 billion from specialty starches for food and industrial applications. Akzo acquired National Starch through its 2008 purchase of ICI, but the business didn’t fit with its strategy of building a coatings and specialty chemical portfolio. Corn Products makes products such as starch, oligosaccharides, dextrose, and high-fructose corn syrup. The two firms expect the deal to close in the third quarter of 2010, after regulatory approvals.