Momentive Files For IPO

Momentive Performance Materials has filed for an $862.5 million initial public offering (IPO) of stock. The firm and its owner, private equity firm Apollo Global Management, haven’t yet set a date for the offering or determined pricing and the number of shares to be sold. Momentive says it will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes. Apollo created the company in October 2010 by merging thermoset resins producer Hexion Specialty Chemicals and silicones maker Momentive Performance Materials. At the time, industry watchers anticipated an IPO (C&EN, Sept. 20, 2010, page 4). Momentive’s products are sold to other manufacturers in the construction materials, consumer and durable goods, energy, and automotive industries. Apollo says 2010 pro forma revenues of the newly combined companies were $7.4 billion. According to C&EN’s analysis, that would have made Momentive the ninth-largest U.S. chemical firm overall. The pro forma results show Momentive booked net losses in the years 2008 to 2010.