Carlyle To Launch PQ Holdings On Stock Market

The private equity firm Carlyle Group has filed for an initial public offering of stock for PQ Holdings, an inorganic specialty chemical company. Carlyle purchased PQ in 2007 from another private equity firm, J. P. Morgan Partners, and combined it with Ineos Silicas the same year. Carlyle hopes to raise $450 million in the IPO, according to the filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. In addition to specialty silicates, PQ makes specialty glass materials and zeolite catalysts. For the nine-month period ending on Sept. 30, the company reported $836 million in sales and earnings of $56 million.