Mexichem Calls Off Prodesal Acquisition

Lima-based Quimpac says Mexichem has given up on buying Prodesal, a caustic soda firm it owns in Colombia, after analyzing unfavorable conditions of the global markets. “The parties involved have agreed to initiate steps to conclude the transaction in a friendly manner,” Quimpac says in a letter to Conasev. In March, Mexchem announced it had agreed to acquire Prodesal, but in August Colombia’s Superintendent of Industry and Commerce objected to the deal, saying it would potentially hurt competition. But it then reversed the decision a month later when the buyer agreed to sell a plant it owns in Colombia that produces sodium hypochlorite. Neither party discloses the advisors names, or deal value. Prodesal reports annual sales of $45m in 2007 and Ebitda of $12m. Mexichem, meanwhile, says Q3 sales were MXP23bn, a 41% increase versus the corresponding period of 2007.