Deals & Cases

Homburger advised Clariant in connection with Activist Shareholder White Tale

On January 25, 2018, Clariant AG (Clariant / SIX: CLN) announced that Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has acquired a 24.99% stake in Clariant from the activist shareholder White Tale, consisting of Corvex Management, the hedge fund run by Keith Meister, and industry investor 40 North. With 24.99%, SABIC will become Clariant’s largest shareholder.

SABIC is a diversified manufacturing company active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. SABIC has operations in over 50 countries and over 35,000 employees. SABIC’s shares are listed on the Saudi stock exchange and 30% are publicly traded. Clariant intends to engage with SABIC over the coming weeks in order to discuss the new situation and explore possible ways to create value.

The current market value of the shares sold is CHF 2.35 bn.

The acquisition ends a proxy fight between Clariant and White Tale which began in July 2017 when White Tale announced that it increased its stake in Clariant above 10% and that it opposes the planned merger between Clariant and Huntsman Corp.

Homburger acted as legal advisor to Clariant in connection with the activist shareholder White Tale. The Homburger team was led by partner Frank Gerhard and included partner Daniel Hasler, associates Marc Hanslin and Andreas Müller and junior associate Oliver Dalla Palma (all Corporate / M&A), partner Marcel Dietrich, counsel Andreas Burger as well as associates Richard Stäuber and Allegra Schär (all Competition / Regulatory).