FMC May Divest Peroxygens

FMC Corp. is rearranging itself into businesses in agricultural chemicals, health and nutrition, and minerals. As part of the restructuring, the company will explore the sale of its peroxygens business, a maker of hydrogen peroxide and persulfate chemicals. The sale would also include the part of its environmental solutions business that uses peroxygens to remediate groundwater. The businesses under evaluation are expected to generate sales this year of about $350 million, the company says, or roughly 8% of its annual sales. The investment firm Jefferies & Co. estimates that the businesses could be worth $600 million to $800 million. FMC CEO Pierre R. Brondeau says the company’s future growth drivers will be agricultural chemicals and health and nutrition, the latter being a new name for the company’s biopolymers business. FMC’s lithium chemicals and soda ash operations will be combined into the minerals business, which Brondeau says will be a cash generator to support the other two businesses.