• Financial sponsors in pursuit
• Clariant and CD&R form consortium

Publicly listed chemicals company Ashland collected initial bids on Friday (2 October) as it pursues a sale, three sources familiar with the situation said.

Private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has partnered with Switzerland-based chemicals company Clariant to pursue Ashland, two of the sources said.

Clariant will encounter antitrust issues if it pursued Ashland on its own as the businesses overlap in areas such as personal care, the same sources and a sector advisor said.

Apollo Global Management and Carlyle Group were also circling the business, as this news service previously reported. CVC Capital could also show interest in Ashland, one of the sources and the sector advisor said.

Last month, this news service reported that Ashland was preparing to collect initial bids, with financial sponsors circling the business. The report also noted that strategic interest in Ashland was expected to be limited.

Financial sponsors are engaging with the Delaware-based chemicals company. However, even a 10%-15% premium over where the stock is currently trading may make the math a bit difficult for some sponsors. Ashland is a reluctant seller but given the pressure from activist investors it is forced to explore a sale, as reported.

In August, Bloomberg reported that Ashland was weighing a sale following interest from private equity firms Advent International, Apollo, and Carlyle. Standard Industries was also considering an approach, the report said. Its investment arm, Standard Investments, owns a 9.89% stake in Ashland. Citi and Lazard are advising the company on the sale, the same report said.

Speculation around Ashland is growing after activist Ancora reached a cooperation agreement with the company in late July, adding two new directors to the board.

In June, Ancora launched a fresh push for a potential sale of Ashland, arguing the specialty chemicals company’s shares were materially undervalued and could unlock significant upside through a competitive takeover process. Ancora, which has a 4.24% stake in the company, said in a presentation that 11.5x estimated FY26 adjusted EBITDA, or USD 76.47 per share, was the base case for a deal. The activist’s bull case was a 13.8x multiple, which works out to about USD 96 per share.

Subsequent to Ancora’s plea, Cruiser Capital Advisors, which owns a 0.15% stake in Ashland, also reportedly called for a sale of the company.

Ashland shares closed at approximately USD 68.76, giving the company a market capitalisation of about USD 3.14bn.

Ashland, Clariant, and CD&R did not respond to requests for comment.