Huntsman Corporation

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Huntsman Corporation NYSE: HUN is one of the world's largest chemical companies. It was founded in 1982 by Jon Huntsman and remained a private company controlled by the Huntsman family until going public on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol "HUN" in February of 2005. Huntsman has annual revenues of approximately $11.5 billion, more than 14,000 employees and facilities in more than 24 countries.

In June 2007, it was announced that Huntsman had agreed to be acquired by Access Industries, owned by the billionaire Len Blavatnik, for $5.88 billion in cash. Huntsman shareholders would receive $25.25 a share from Access Industries' chemical unit, Basell Holdings, based in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. Access would assume $3.7 billion of Huntsman debt.

However, on July 12, 2007 the agreement was terminated as Huntsman agreed to be bought by Apollo Management for $6.51 billion. Huntsman shareholders will thus receive $28 a share. [1]

[edit] Environmental Record

According to 10-K SEC filing by Huntsman Polymers corp. on 4/15/1998 the company has spent $25.5 million for environmental remediation, compliance and waste disposal during past two years. In addition, approximately $6.6 million was spent in 1997 to refurbish a municipal wastewater reclamation plant. ^[1] However, Environmental Protection Agency reports that in November of the same year former plant manager and environmental manager of Huntsman Petrochemical Corporation were accused of violating the Clean Air Act by failing to disclose information to EPA about releasing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the plant in Port Arthur, Texas. As a response, Huntsman Corp., cooperated with the investigation and signed an agreement with the U.S. Attorney to enforce the company’s environmental polices. In addition, Huntsman has later established a $500,000 trust fund for the preservation and improvement of coastal wetlands in Southeast Texas.^[2]

In spite of all the expenses Huntsman Petrochemical Company made to improve its environmental impact, the company still remains among the biggest air polluters in the United states. The record of Huntsman facilities' waste releases was registered in 1997 when the overall pollution made up total of 7,929,370 lbs of production related waste.^[3]