Huntsman interested in Clariant, Ciba

The Swiss newspaper Hangelszeitung is reporting that Huntsman Corp. considers both Clariant AG and Ciba Specialty Chemicals AG to be attractive takeover candidates. If your German is rusty, Bloomberg has a story on the wire this morning summarizing the report in English. Peter Huntsman told the Zurich newspaper that his company would be interested in all or parts of the companies. Both Ciba and Clariant are big players in the plastic colorant market. Huntsman told the paper that he would not make a hostile takeover. Bloomberg quoted an analyst who is sceptical that Clariant would be interested in a deal. "Clariant has streamlined its businesses, it wouldn't make industrial or financial sense to sell some parts now,"' said Martin Flueckiger, an analyst at Helvea in Zurich. "The company has repeatedly said it wants to stay independent." He added that Ciba is not attractive at its current price.