Puget Sound chemical distributor to go public

Chemical distribution giant Univar, one of the Puget Sound region’s biggest yet lowest-profile companies, filed Wednesday to raise up to $862 million in an initial public stock offering.

If the Redmond-based company succeeds in selling that much stock — not a certainty given the patchy IPO market these days — it would be the largest IPO of a Northwest company since AT&T Wireless in 2000.

Univar supplies commodity and specialty chemicals to a host of manufacturing industries, including producers of paints and coatings, energy, food products, home and industrial cleaners, and other chemicals.

It is the leading independent chemical distributor in the United States and Canada and the second-biggest in Europe. U.S. sales account for 58.8 percent of Univar’s gross sales; Europe makes up 23.9 percent and Canada 16 percent.

Earlier this year, Univar moved to strengthen its position in Europe by agreeing to buy Quaron Group, which distributes commodity chemicals in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, for $130 million. The deal is expected to close sometime in the third quarter.

The company generated $7.2 billion in net sales last year, down 23.7 percent from 2008 as the global recession cut deeply into demand. Total shipments fell to 5.4 million metric tons from 6.5 million metric tons.

The company has posted narrow losses for the past three years, primarily because of interest payments on its relatively heavy debt load. As of March 31, Univar had nearly $1.7 billion in long-term debt and a capitalization ratio of 79 percent; much of the IPO’s proceeds would go to pay down the debt.

As of March 31, Univar had about 6,800 full-time employees worldwide.

Univar has an unusually complicated history that dates to its founding in 1924 as a broker of naval equipment, paint, cotton linters and other industrial goods. For years the company bore the names of its two founders, George Van Waters and Nat Rogers; it adopted the Univar name in 1974.