Apr 11, 2014. /Lesprom Network/. Huntsman Corporation and Wilmar International Limited announced that Wilmar’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Wilmar Europe Holdings B.V. has agreed to purchase Huntsman’s European commodity surfactants business. Completion remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory procedures in France. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.

Huntsman plans to sell to Wilmar its ethoxylation facility in Lavera, France. In addition, Wilmar will enter into a multi-year arrangement to purchase sulphated surfactant products from Huntsman’s facilities in St. Mihiel, France and Castiglione delle Stiviere, Italy.

Separately, Huntsman has also announced its intention to cease production by October 2014 at its Patrica, Italy commodity surfactants facility.

Last October, Huntsman announced plans to improve its annual EBITDA by $20 million by exiting a number of commodity surfactant product lines in Europe and to focus on developing and growing the remaining differentiated surfactants businesses.

The closure of the Patrica facility and the implementation of other restructuring activities, including the re-focus on differentiated surfactants following the sale to Wilmar, will result in a smaller, more profitable surfactants business for Huntsman in Europe going forward.

Peter Huntsman, President and CEO of Huntsman Corporation, said: “This restructuring and portfolio repositioning will benefit our Performance Products division in Europe and preserve jobs that otherwise would have been lost. The sale and offtake agreement with Wilmar will further cement the already strong relationship between our two companies. We plan to work closely together with Wilmar to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for customers and other stakeholders.”

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals with 2013 revenues of over $11 billion.