Huntsman founder sells more stock for $245.3 million

Salt Lake-based Huntsman Corp.'s billionaire founder and chairman, Jon M. Huntsman, sold an additional $245.3 million in common and preferred stock in the chemical company he took public last week, the company said Wednesday.

Underwriters exercised an option granted by Jon Huntsman to sell an additional 9.03 million of his common shares at $23, for a total offering of 69.3 million shares, Huntsman said Wednesday in a regulatory filing. The underwriters also exercised an option to sell 750,000 preferred shares at $50, for a total offering of 5.75 million shares.

Huntsman, 67, raised $335.2 million in the IPO after underwriting fees, including $234.8 million raised in the latest sale, according to the filing. Huntsman, who sold the shares through a trust he controls, will use much of the money to finance his philanthropic activities, company spokesman Don Olsen said last week.

Huntsman Corp., the fourth-biggest U.S. chemical company by 2003 revenue, raised about $1.45 billion in the initial sale on Feb. 11, becoming the third chemical producer in six months to go public amid surging demand for materials used to make plastics and paint.

The share sale will help trim the company's $6.2 billion in debt to less than $5 billion, chief executive officer Peter Huntsman, 41, said last week in an interview.

Huntsman stock rose 37 cents, or 1.5 percent, to close at $25.97 per share Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has gained 13 percent since its debut.

Jon Huntsman is using proceeds from the sale to make donations to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in Philadelphia, his alma mater, and the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, Olsen has said. His son Peter Huntsman took over as company CEO in 2000. Another son, Jon Huntsman Jr., was elected Utah governor in November.

Underwriters for the offering included Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse First Boston LLC, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.

Huntsman, which employs 11,500 people, makes basic chemicals such as ethylene and propylene, polyethylene resins and titanium dioxide pigment, as well as specialty chemicals such as polyurethanes. The company runs 63 facilities in 22 countries.

Dow Chemical Co. is the biggest U.S. chemical maker, followed by DuPont Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp.