BASF
Acquisitions Possible Amid Industry Deals
LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany — German chemicals group BASF SE is monitoring antitrust concerns over planned tie-ups in the global agrochemical industry for potential acquisitions, the head of the company’s crop protection business said Tuesday.
Mr. Heldt’s comments to reporters came shortly after German rival Bayer AG raised its offer to buy Monsanto Co. in a deal that could value the U.S. company at over $ 65 billion including debt. BASF’s Mr. Heldt said that any acquisitions would have to make “strategic and financial sense” and fit into the company’s existing portfolio. He said BASF was also evaluating “bolt-on” acquisitions in the agrochemical sphere.
That potential deal, which has been in the works since May, is the latest in a wave of consolidation in the industry amid a slide in global crop prices.
Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. last year announced a merger that the companies — together valued at roughly $ 103 billion — said would ultimately create one of the world’s largest agrochemical firms.
Earlier this year, Chinese state-owned China National Chemical Corp. announced a $ 43 billion cash deal to acquire Syngenta AG, after a failed attempt by Monsanto to buy the Swiss agrochemicals group.
–Christopher Alessi
Write to Christopher Alessi at christopher.alessi@wsj.com
HANJIN GROUP
Parent to Shore Up Shipping Affiliate
SEOUL — Hanjin Group of South Korea will put up 100 billion won ($ 90 million) to help Hanjin Shipping Co., as the shipping affiliate struggles to get its stalled supply chain moving globally.
The parent of the country’s largest container operator, and the world’s seventh-largest by capacity, will raise 60 billion won, using its stake in a terminal at Port of Long Beach in California and other assets as collateral, the group said Tuesday. The remaining 40 billion won will come from Chairman Cho Yang-ho’s personal wealth.
“Although the company is already under court receivership, we’ve decided to help out to minimize the negative impact on other local exporting companies,” Hanjin Group said.
The decision came a day after the shipping line said it would take legal action globally to protect its assets, with more than half its vessels stranded in ports world-wide and at sea.
Shares of Hanjin Shipping, which fell 14% Monday in Seoul, rebounded sharply to finish up 30% — the daily trading limit — on Tuesday. The stock had declined 62% this year.
Hanjin Shipping filed for bankruptcy protection Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J., under chapter 15, which deals with international insolvency matters.
In South Korea, the company has been under court receivership since last week.
A spokeswoman for the company said it lodged a similar bankruptcy-protection filing with a Tokyo court on Tuesday.
Hanjin Shipping intends to file for court protection in about 10 countries, including Canada, Germany and the U.K., this week, and later expand that to 43 jurisdictions to protect the company’s ships and other assets from being seized by creditors, South Korea’sFinancial Services Commission said Monday.
Hanjin Group, South Korea’s 10th-largest conglomerate, which also controls Korean Air Lines Co., has been under pressure to act aggressively to resolve the crisis in cargo delivery as the financial damage has escalated.
The group, which already poured billions of dollars into the shipping unit in recent years, said it might use its cargo planes if urgent shipments are needed.
Hanjin Group’s latest offer of financial assistance, however, won’t be enough to contain disruptions to the global supply chain, analysts said.
“The funds will work just as a stopgap measure, slightly alleviating the current situation. Many people handling Hanjin’s cargo will likely demand advance payments for their services,” said Kang Sung-jin, an analyst with KB Investment & Securities.
South Korea’sMaritime Ministry said Hanjin Shipping would need more than 600 billion won for unpaid costs such as fuel, including about 100 billion won immediately for payments such as to port and terminal operators to unload cargo from stranded ships.
The number of ships that have been denied port access around the world, including in the U.S., China, Canada and Spain, has increased to 79, comprising 61 container ships and 18 bulk carriers, according to South Korea’s financial regulator.
This includes three ships seized by creditors through court orders, a spokeswoman for Hanjin Shipping said. The three ships include two container ships seized earlier this week in the Chinese ports of Shenzhen and Shanghai, she added. Another vessel was seized in Singapore.
In an effort to avoid further ship seizures, the government has asked Hanjin Shipping to make port calls in countries where its vessels are less likely to be seized once its court-protection requests are approved, such as Singapore or Germany.
Hanjin has 141 ships, of which 128 are operating now.
–In-Soo Nam
MYLAN
New York Scrutinizes EpiPen School Pacts
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday that his office was investigating Mylan NV over potentially anticompetitive EpiPen emergency allergy treatment contracts with schools.
The move comes amid public outrage over Mylan’s EpiPen price increases in recent years. Mr. Schneiderman said he had launched an antitrust investigation into Mylan and a preliminary review suggests that Mylan “may have inserted potentially anticompetitive terms into its EpiPen sales contracts with numerous local school systems.”
Mylan said its EpiPen4Schools program follows applicable laws and regulations.
“Previously, schools who wished to purchase EpiPen Auto-Injectors beyond those they were eligible to receive free under the program could elect to do so at a certain discount level with a limited purchase restriction, but such restriction no longer remains,” the company said.
In recent weeks, Mylan said it would launch a half-price generic version of the EpiPen and promised to reduce the costs that some patients pay as it responded to a backlash over price increases.
EpiPen is a lifesaving treatment for millions whose allergies can send them into severe shock, including many schoolchildren who are advised to keep an injector handy at all times. A pack of two lists for $ 608.61, up 548% since Mylan began selling the drug in late 2007, according to Truven Health Analytics.
As it has raised prices, Mylan has also worked to expand the availability of EpiPens. In 2013, President Barack Obama signed a law that provides incentives to states to boost the stockpile of epinephrine at schools.
Shares were up 0.8% to $ 40.30 in afternoon trading.
–Austen Hufford
DANAHER
Conglomerate Plans To Purchase Cepheid
Science, health care and technology conglomerate Danaher Corp. said Tuesday that it would buy molecular-diagnostics company Cepheid Inc. for $ 53 a share, in its first major acquisition since spinning off a large chunk of its business.
The deal marks a 54% premium over Cepheid’s closing share price Friday, valuing the company at about $ 4 billion, including debt.
In July, Danaher completed the spinoff of its test and measurement, industrial technologies and petroleum platform segments into their own public company, Fortive Corp.
Cepheid develops and manufactures fully-integrated testing systems that can be used to screen for genetic-based disorders and to manage infectious diseases.
“Cepheid’s extensive installed base, test menu and innovative product offering contribute to its market leadership in molecular diagnostics and we expect it to strengthen our position in this high-growth segment, ” Danaher Chief Executive Thomas Joyce said.
Based in Sunnyvale, California, Cepheid will become part of Danaher’s diagnostics unit, joining its Beckman Coulter, Leica Biosystems and Radiometer businesses.
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including Cepheid-shareholder and regulatory approval, and is expected to close by the end of the year.
Danaher expects to finance the transaction with cash and new debt.
Danaher estimates the move will add about 5 cents to adjusted earnings per share in the first full year after the deal closes. In 2015, Cepheid posted $ 538.6 million in revenue.
With more than 20 operating companies, Danaher says it units are held together culturally by its Danaher business system.
–Austen Hufford
JBS
Chief Suspended At Meatpacker
SÃO PAULO — The chief executive of JBS SA has been suspended from the helm of the world’s largest meatpacker after being detained for questioning as part of an investigation into alleged fraud at some of Brazil’s largest pension funds, a Brazilian prosecutor said Tuesday.
The suspension of Wesley Batista, who has headed São Paulo-based JBS since 2011, was ordered by a Brasília judge overseeing the probe of a scheme that police say defrauded the funds of as much as 8 billion reais ($ 2.5 billion). The order also applies to Mr. Batista’s brother, Joesley Batista, who is chairman of JBS. The suspension is in force until the probe is completed or is overturned by another court order, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said.
Wesley Batista was detained by police for questioning in São Paulo on Monday before being released. Joesley Batista wasn’t questioned because he was out of the country. Neither has been charged with a crime.
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