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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Huntsman Sells Packaging Company For Charity
Salt Lake Tribune 2Apr00 B2
By Guy Boulton: Salt Lake Tribune
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- LDS Billionaire Jon M. Huntsman has agreed to
sell the Huntsman Packaging Corp. for $1.1 billion to an investment
partnership run by Chase Manhattan Corp. and key executives of the
business, including his son-in-law, Huntsman Packaging Corp. CEO
Richard Durham. The deal is intended to raise money for Huntsman's
philanthropic and charitable causes, including the ambitious Huntsman
Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.
Huntsman Corp. spokesman Don Olsen said, "He has large plans for the
Huntsman Cancer Institute, and the proceeds from the sale of Huntsman
Packaging will help him accomplish those," Huntsman started trying to
sell his 61% stake in the company late last year the rest is owned by
Durham and other key executives. Huntsman Packaging manufactures
flexible packaging. It was formed in 1992 when Huntsman purchased
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.'s film and flexible packaging business.
Since that time, the company has added 13 other businesses. Its best
known product is the recently-purchased technology for Ziploc storage
bags.
Huntsman Chemical, the company Huntsman founded, is the largest
privately held chemical company in the U.S., and the business has
made him one of the richest men in the country, with a net worth
estimated at more than $3 billion. He has given away $75 to $100
million a year in recent years, to causes ranging from the University
of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business to earthquake victims in
Armenia. In 1995 he pledged $90 million to establish the Huntsman
Cancer Institute, and has since donated another $60 million. Huntsman
is seeking to make the Institute one of the finest research centers
in the world.
Durham will remain in control of Huntsman Packaging, an $800 million
a year company with plants in Texas, Ohio, New York, Kentucky and
elsewhere. He picks up the title of chairman, along with the CEO
title that he already holds. The company employs about 3,800 people.
The sale should be completed within a few months.
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