AI-centric computing needs lead to $14.5 billion acquisition of Fort Lauderdale-based company

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Fort Lauderdale-based chemical company has signed a $14.5 billion deal due to growing artificial intelligence computing needs.

In May, Benjamin Glikurich, Element Solutions’ president and chief executive officer since 2020, told Jim Cramer that the company is focused on the supply chain for AI infrastructure through electronic materials and industrial solutions.

“We’re benefiting from building out AI and strengthening our data centers… 70% of our portfolio is electronics, and our portfolio touches all the places that electrons go in electronics hardware, so we’re one of the largest electronic materials businesses in the world… Everything we sell is consumable and remains on a chip or circuit board… We see a long-term demand for durables here,” Glicklich told Cramer.

On July 6, Element Solutions announced a cash and stock agreement with Solstice Advanced Materials, a New Jersey-based chemical company that will be spun off from North Carolina-based multinational Honeywell in 2025.

David Sewell, president and chief executive officer of Solstice Advanced Materials, defended the acquisition after Solstice’s stock price fell 15% and Element Solutions’ stock fell 3% after the announcement.

“The combined company will be extremely well-positioned to benefit from generational tailwinds in high-growth end markets,” Sewell told the Wall Street Journal.

The companies said the deal, which includes the absorption of net debt, is expected to close in 2027 with cash on hand and a $4.7 billion bridge loan from Goldman Sachs to fund the cash portion of the deal.

“We believe this merger will create an unparalleled electronic materials platform,” Sewell told MarketBeat. The newspaper reported on Sunday that Element Solutions shareholders will own about 44% of the combined company. Mr. Gliklich will join Solstice’s board of directors.

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