LONDON, June 30 — Chemical and specialty materials company Celanese Corp said today it would buy Exxon Mobil Corp’s Santoprene business in a US$1.15 billion (RM4.8 billion) deal.

Exxon said the sale includes two manufacturing sites in Pensacola, Florida and Newport, Wales along with associated product, process development and laboratory equipment, operating and administration buildings, control systems and documentation, and intellectual property.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, and is likely to be immediately accretive to Celanese’s 2022 adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow.

Exxon Mobil’s Santoprene brand is a global producer of thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPV), a chemically cross-linked, high-performance material serving a variety of end-uses including automotive, construction, appliance, medical, and industrial.

Celanese said the deal was expecting to finance the deal with the excess cash and the available liquidity on its balance sheet.

Reuters reported in April that Exxon Mobil was exploring a sale of its Advanced Elastomer Systems (AES) division, potentially valuing the elastic polymer maker at around US$800 million including debt, according to people familiar with the matter. — Reuters