Huntsman gets a warm NYSE welcome

Shares of Salt Lake-based chemical giant Huntsman Corp. received a warm welcome in their opening on the New York Stock Exchange Friday, closing at $24.50, up 6.5 percent from the stock's list price of $23.

The company raised $1.45 billion in an initial public offering Thursday and plans to use the proceeds to pay down part of its $6.2 billion in debt. As of Sept. 30, the company had $239.1 million in cash.

Peter R. Huntsman, president and chief executive officer, said the stock's success can be attributed to the company's wide breadth of manufacturing expertise, with nearly two-thirds of its assets located outside North America.

"We spent the last 10 years divesting uncompetitive assets, making sure when we went to the public markets we would do it at a time when we could hold our heads up high, when our portfolio was strong and our technology was second to none," Huntsman said. "I think we've done that. I think that the market has seen that."

Rob Jefferies, Citigroup's director of global chemicals investment bank and lead underwriter for the Huntsman IPO, called the offering a "blowout deal," exceeding the indicated price range of $21 to $23 per share.

"There are not many chemical IPOs," Jefferies said. "The last one that came out was last month, Celanese, and they priced below the range on the cover."

Dallas-based Celanese Corp. raised $800 million in its IPO on Jan. 20, selling 50 million shares at $16 each, below the expected price range of $19 to $21.

Huntsman said his priority would be debt reduction, as well as a focus on environmental health and safety and shareholder value.

Since 1999, the company has closed seven high-cost manufacturing units and reduced corporate and administrative costs, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Huntsman has set a goal of further reducing annual fixed manufacturing and selling and general and administrative costs by $200 million by 2006.

In addition, the company announced the closure of eight smaller manufacturing units, resulting in layoffs of 1,500 employees since 2000.

While the company's official headquarters will remain in Salt Lake City, where company founder and chairman Jon M. Huntsman Sr. resides, the overwhelming number of business managers, technical support and customer service personnel are based in Houston, where Peter Huntsman directs operations.

Jon M. Huntsman Sr. founded the company in the early 1970s, creating a container for McDonald's hamburgers.