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What: Shares of chemical maker Axiall Corp (NYSE: AXLL) jumped 26%, and traded in a tight range, in this morning's trading after Axiall finally accepted a buyout offer from Westlake Chemical (WLK 0.22%). Axiall saw Lotte Chemical of South Korea join the fray earlier this week, and some urgency was finally put on getting a deal done.
So what: Westlake Chemical will pay $33 in cash for each share of Axiall, making for a $3.8 billion transaction when debt is included. The combined company expects to see $100 million in cost synergies and generate $7.6 billion in revenue and $1.5 billion in EBITDA.
Westlake also says that it has commitments for the financing needed to complete the transaction.
Now what: This ends a long battle over the future of Axiall Corp., which Westlake had coveted for quite some time. And given that Axiall's shares are trading very close to the offer price, it's probably time for investors to take some chips off the table. I doubt this becomes a further bidding war, considering how long this dance has gone on, so upside potential is probably lower than the risk of a deal falling through.
