Huntsman spin-off to include textiles

Huntsman Corp. plans to include its textile effects business as part of the spin-off to shareholders of its titanium dioxide operations. Speaking to analysts during a review of Huntsman’s second-quarter earnings, CEO Peter Huntsman said the textile dyes and chemicals operation, which the firm bought from Ciba Specialty Chemicals in 2006, would “stabilize the earning cyclicality of TiO₂” in the new entity. The combined operation, which had $2.9 billion in sales over the past 12 months—about 25% from textile effects—could be ready to be spun off at the end of this year or early in 2017, Huntsman said.