W.R. Grace & Co. announced Monday an agreement to be acquired by privately held Standard Industries Holdings Inc. in a deal valued at $7.0 billion, including W.R. Grace’s pending pharma fine chemistry acquisition. W.R. Grace’s stock is currently halted for news. Under terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, Standard will acquire all W.R. Grace shares for $70 in cash per share, a 9.0% premium to Friday’s closing price of $64.24. With 66.19 million shares outstanding, the per-share bid implies a market capitalization for the specialty chemical company of $4.63 billion. W.R. Grace will suspend its dividend as part of the deal, and will not host an conference call when it reports earnings on May 6. W.R. Grace’s stock has rallied 17.2% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has gained 11.3%.
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