Platform Specialty Products To Buy Arysta LifeScience For Nearly $3.51 Bln

(RTTNews) - Specialty chemicals company Platform Specialty Products Corp. (PAH) Monday said it will buy Arysta LifeScience Ltd., a provider of crop solutions, for about $3.51 billion. The acquisition is expected to immediately add more than 20 percent to Platform's adjusted earnings per share, before synergies. The deal would help in creating a global, highly-differentiated, asset-lite agricultural business within Platform.

Platform said it expects to realize in excess of $65 million in synergies from the combination of Arysta, CAS, and Agriphar acquisitions over the next three years. The transaction, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2015, is likely to be funded through a combination of cash on hand, convertible equity, debt, and equity. Following the acquisition, Arysta's President and Chief Executive, Wayne Hewett, is expected to join Platform's senior leadership team as its President and to lead Platform's three agrochemical businesses. Arysta, a provider of crop solutions with expertise in agrochemical and biological products, reported net sales of $1.5 billion for fiscal 2013.