Westlake Chemical Raises Bid For Axiall And Plans Proxy Fight

Westlake Chemical Corp. said Monday it is raising its bid for Axiall Corp. to $23.35 per share in cash and stock from an initial price of $20.00 per share. The revised offer values the deal at about $3.1 billion, including about $1.5 billion of debt. The price is a 143% premium over Axiall's closing price of $9.60 a share on Jan. 22, the last trading date before Westlake's initial bid. "The revised proposal was summarily rejected by Axiall's Board of Directors and Axiall refused to make a counterproposal or otherwise negotiate or provide any constructive feedback," Westlake said in a statement. The company is planning to file preliminary proxy materials with the SEC and to proceed with soliciting proxies to elect an alternate slate of 10 directors to Axiall's board. Axiall shares were slightly higher premarket, but are down 51% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 is up 0.4%.