Dow Chemical is weighing six offers to purchase Morton Salt when Dow's acquisition of current parent Rohm and Haas closes before April 1, the Chicago Tribune reported today. Purchasers could be American investors or an overseas salt company. Dow CEO Andrew Liveris told the Tribunes that he "expects a deal soon."
Banks are failing, carmakers are listing and retailers are closing shop, but there's still good money to be made in the salt trade.
Venerable Chicago-based Morton Salt is up for sale and has generated six bids, a neat feat at a time when deals are scarce and credit is tight. Salt industry observers expect that Morton will be bought by a private equity firm or a foreign salt producer.
The salt business has been booming in recent years, driven by wicked winters. Road salt is the industry's biggest market.
Rohm & Haas's salt operation, which primarily encompasses Morton, has seen sales rise 47 percent in the last two years, hitting $1.22 billion in 2008. Its operating earnings have more than tripled in that time.
"It's an asset with good growth and good [profit] margins," said Dmitry Silversteyn, an analyst at Longbow Research. Morton also has a strong cash flow another attractive attribute in these volatile times for lenders looking to finance a sale.
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