Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK) is seeking acquisitions. At a Conference, Westlake Chemical’s Chief Financial Officer, Steven Mark Bender, said “Westlake Chemical is the beneficiary of all those proceeds raised back to backed by the partnership. The benefit here is by monetizing OpCo, by issuing partnership units, those partnership units traded at a much higher multiple than Westlake Chemical does. As a consequence, we are able lower our equity cost of capital. That allows us to continue to drive value, because as we look to either expand our business organically or grow through acquisition, we're using a much more cost-effective form of capital to do it.”
Westlake Corporation is a manufacturer and supplier of materials and products that enhance life every day. The Company has operations in Asia, Europe, and North America. It provides building blocks for solutions from housing and construction to packaging and healthcare to automotive and the consumer. Its segments include Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products. The Performance and Essential Materials includes Westlake North American Vinyls, Westlake North American Chlor-alkali & Derivatives, Westlake European & Asian Chlorovinyls, Westlake Olefins, Westlake Polyethylene and Westlake Epoxy. The Housing and Infrastructure Products include Westlake Royal Building Products, Westlake Pipe and Fittings, Westlake Global Compounds and Westlake Dimex. Its products are used in diverse consumer and industrial markets, including residential construction, automotive products, water treatment, wind turbines, coatings as well as other durable and non-durable goods.