HUN - Huntsman Corp (NYSE Stock)

[soupcan]

POSSIBLE BOTTOM PLAY ? BADTHAD know anything of these guys / isnt this a good thing for huntsville ? word is they are getting close to a billion $s break up fees .

Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc. Announces Termination of Merger Agreement With Huntsman Corporation and Settlement
All Litigation Against Hexion, Apollo Management L.P. and Apollo’s Affiliates and Principals To Be Dropped

Apollo to Invest Additional $200 Million in Hexion

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc. (“Hexion”), today announced that on December 13, 2008, Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) (“Huntsman”) terminated the proposed merger between Huntsman and Hexion. On December 14, 2008, Hexion entered into a settlement agreement with Huntsman and other parties to end all litigation among Hexion, Apollo Management, L.P. (“Apollo”) and its affiliates, the controlling shareholder of Hexion, Apollo’s principals and Huntsman.

Hexion will pay Huntsman the $325 million merger agreement termination fee. Hexion has financial commitments from affiliates of Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank (the “Banks”) to fund the $325 million termination fee, which Hexion expects to promptly draw to fund the payment. Hexion intends for the termination fee to be borrowed by Hexion LLC, the parent company of Hexion, which will not impact Hexion’s operating performance or its compliance with its debt covenants. Hexion fully expects the Banks to honor their commitments associated with the funding of the termination fee. Separately, an affiliate of Apollo has agreed to make a $200 million investment in Hexion’s parent company, the proceeds of which will be used by Hexion for general business purposes.

In summary, under the terms of the agreement with Huntsman, an affiliate of Apollo and certain funds managed by Apollo, have agreed to pay Huntsman $425 million to settle all claims. In addition, certain funds managed by Apollo have agreed to purchase $250 million principal amount of Huntsman senior convertible notes.

“We are pleased that this matter has been resolved,” said Craig O. Morrison, Chairman and CEO of Hexion. “We appreciate Apollo’s ongoing support of Hexion. Their incremental investment in Hexion will help to solidify our leadership position in the marketplace. Moreover, it will help us remain a strong competitor in a difficult economic environment. We are well-positioned to compete globally as a stand-alone company, and we look forward to focusing fully on serving our customers and growing our business.”

About Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, Hexion Specialty Chemicals is the global leader in thermoset resins. Hexion serves the global wood and industrial markets through a broad range of thermoset technologies, specialty products and technical support for customers in a diverse range of applications and industries. Hexion has more than 7,000 associates and over 100 manufacturing sites around the world. The company had 2007 revenues of $5.8 billion. Additional information is available at Hexion.com - Binding, Bonding and Coating with Thermoset resins.

Forward Looking Statement

[BadThad]

Yea, I read about this in the morning....too busy at work to post. We do business with Huntsman, this is a good thing for them...hell...they're getting a bomb-load of $$$ out of it. LOL

[BadThad]

Recent news:

Huntsman Corp (HUN.N) Key Developments | Stocks | Reuters.com

[BadThad]

The market reaction is not what I would have expected. Ratings cuts and generally beat down by the news of a massive cash infusion? ROFL I have to disagree with the market on this, I need to do more DD, but at first glance it looks like a helluv a buy at $3. The 52-week low hit today at $2.82...this nomally when you want to BUY, not sell. I don't see how Huntsman can be insolvent with all this cash coming! LOLOLOLOL

Also, the divy record date is today...so this should be a good buy, there's probably a post divy sell off going on to.

Huntsman shares fall sharply on $1 billion merger settlement
1:11p ET December 15, 2008 (MarketWatch)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Huntsman Corp. shares lost half their value Monday after the chemical firm settled its merger dispute with Apollo Management's Hexion Specialty Chemicals for payments of about $1 billion.

Huntsman dropped $3.00, or 51%, to $2.85 on Monday as the company looked toward the future as a separate, standalone company. The sell-off put a market cap of $720 million on the company, less than the value of its merger settlement.

HSBC Global Research reiterated its underweight rating on Huntsman and cut its price target to $3 a share from $9 a share.

BB&T Capital Markets downgraded Huntsman to hold from buy.

The Woodlands, Texas, chemicals producer said it'll receive a $325 million deal-breakup fee. In addition, certain Apollo affiliates will pay Huntsman $425 million. And certain Apollo affiliates will buy $250 million of 10-year convertible notes that Huntsman will issue.

The agreement does not resolve, however, Huntsman's claims against Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, , which were to finance the Huntsman-Hexion deal, Huntsman said.

Huntsman has pending, in a court in Montgomery County, Texas, a suit that claims the banks interfered with Huntsman's $28-a-share, or $6.5 billion, deal with Hexion as well as an earlier deal with Basell. The suit claims $3 billion in damages.

That case is set for trial on May 11, and Apollo has agreed to cooperate with Huntsman in the case, Huntsman said.

Hexion, of Columbus, Ohio, said in a statement that it expects the banks to follow through on a commitment to finance the $325 million breakup fee.

The dispute date to the Huntsman-Hexion agreement of July 2007.

Hexion originally agreed to acquire Huntsman at $27.25 a share, then lifted the bid price to $28, which Huntsman accepted.

But in mid-June 2008, Hexion filed a suit, saying that Huntsman's performance had weakened to the point that the combined company would be insolvent.

Hexion then tried to end the deal, and Huntsman sued to close the purchase. At the end of September, a Delaware court ordered Hexion to do whatever was needed to complete the $6.5 billion merger.

Huntsman shares closed Friday at $5.85, up nearly 8%.

[BadThad]

I just talked myself into it! I have buy order in now.

[BadThad]

Picked up some shares, this is the bottom IMO....it has really stabilized in the past few hours. Great bottom play!

[thegreatgate]

After seeing that both BT and RU scooped this one up, I decided to jump on the bandwagon. I'm in at $3.10.

[BadThad]

Pretty well flat-lined, it may take the next earnings report to get this stock flying. Lots of hope, heavy volume today at 22 mil traded.

[BadThad]

OH YEA, moving up, $3.43 right now! It's not too late to get in this one IMO.

[scmfinance]

looks to be a nice call badthad - thanks for pointing to it.

saw the following insider buys on the open market, reported by thestreet.com

CEO Peter Huntsman purchased 429,000 shares
Director Wayne Reaud purchased 1,000,000 shares
VP Samuel Scrugs purchased 125,000 shares