FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Fort Lauderdale-based chemicals company has been transitioning to a takeover after agreeing to a $14.5 billion deal prompted by the increasing computing needs of artificial intelligence.
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In May, Benjamin Gliklich, the president and chief executive officer of Element Solutions since 2020, told Jim Cramer that he had been focusing on the AI infrastructure supply chain through electronics materials and industrial solutions.
“We are benefiting from the AI buildout, data center intensity … 70% of our portfolio is electronics, and our portfolio speaks to all the places an electron goes in electronics hardware, so it’s one of the biggest electronic materials businesses in the world … everything we sell is consumable and stays on the chip or the circuit board … We see durable, long-term demand here,” Gliklich told Cramer.
On July 6, Element Solutions announced a cash-and-stock agreement with Solstice Advanced Materials, a New Jersey-based chemicals company that had separated from North Carolina-based multinational Honeywell in 2025.
David Sewell, president and chief executive officer of Solstice Advanced Materials, moved to defend the acquisition after Solstice’s stock fell 15% and Element Solutions 3% after the announcement.
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“The combined company will be very well-positioned to benefit from generational tailwinds in high-growth end markets,” Sewell told The Wall Street Journal.
With cash on hand and $4.7 billion in bridge financing from Goldman Sachs to fund the cash portion of the transaction, the deal, which also includes absorbing the net debt, is slated to close in 2027, according to both companies.
“We believe this combination creates an unmatched electronic materials platform,” Sewell told MarketBeat, which reported on Sunday that Element Solutions shareholders are set to own about 44% of the combined company. Gliklich plans to join Solstice’s board.
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Related links
- Investopedia: Understanding the semiconductor supply chain and its importance
- Bloomberg: How AI is pushing the semiconductor supply Chain to the limit
