Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Ascot buys German chemical group for pounds 90m

Simon Duke
Wednesday 09 December 1998 00:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

SHARES IN Ascot, the industrial group, surged by 6 per cent yesterday following the announcement of the acquisition of the Haltermann Group, a German chemical group, for pounds 90m.

In a statement, Ascot said that the purchase "creates a world-leading business in the chemicals outsourcing market, which has attractive growth potential".

The company will fund the DM250m purchase through the issue of pounds 31m of shares, while the remainder will be paid in cash. The Haltermann board will retain more than half of the newly issued shares.

The acquisition of Haltermann, which last year reported a pre-tax profit of pounds 9.4m on a turnover of pounds 130m, will make Ascot the world's largest contract chemical processor, with 50 per cent market share in Europe, and 30 per cent in the US.

Contract chemical processing, the manufacture of small batches of specialist chemicals outsourced by bigger companies, is perceived by the City as a stable business.

"It is an excellent part of the industry to be in. You don't have anything like the cycles of the commodity chemical business, or even speciality chemicals," said one analyst.

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, the house broker, upped its full-year pre- tax profit forecasts by 7 per cent. With a share price of 250p, many believe that the forward p/e ratio of 7.5 is too low.

Ascot is also expected to benefit from a joint venture with ChiroTech, which makes a chemical compound for Glaxo's new anti-Aids drug, Abacavir, due to be launched in January.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in