Huntsman Sells Gomet to Trelleborg for €42.5M

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Huntsman Corporation divests its Italian Huntsman Gomet automotive aftermarket unit to Trelleborg Group, booking €42.5 million in proceeds to cut debt and sharpen its specialty-chemicals focus.

What Happened

Gomet, headquartered in Azeglio in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, manufactures molded rubber and thermoplastic automotive aftermarket components — including protective boots for constant-velocity joints, steering gaiters, dust covers, bounce bumpers, and shock absorber service kits. In 2025, the business reported revenues of approximately €24 million.

Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor to Huntsman on the transaction; Freshfields LLP acted as legal counsel.

Strategic Context

The Gomet sale is the latest step in Huntsman's multi-year portfolio rationalization. The specialty chemicals company has been streamlining its asset base as its Polyurethanes division — which housed Gomet — accounts for roughly 65 percent of group revenue. By shedding a niche Italian manufacturing unit, management frees capital and management bandwidth to concentrate on higher-margin polyurethane systems and differentiated chemical solutions.

Huntsman's balance-sheet discipline has been a recurring theme since 2024. The company trimmed its dividend to preserve liquidity and has driven more than $80 million in annualized cost savings, reaching that run-rate by late 2025. Total liquidity stands at approximately $1.5 billion, supported by an $800 million revolving credit facility. Directing the Gomet proceeds toward debt repayment continues that trend of deleveraging ahead of any potential economic softening in global manufacturing.

Buyer's Rationale

Sweden-based Trelleborg Group is a precision-engineered polymer and sealing-solutions conglomerate with an established appetite for bolt-on acquisitions in the €10 million–€50 million range — a bracket Gomet fits exactly. The acquisition of Gomet follows Trelleborg Sealing Solutions' purchase of Austrian tooling specialist Nexus Elastomer Molds in the first quarter of 2026 and underscores the group's declared goal of lifting aftermarket and services revenue to mid-teens as a share of segment sales by 2027.

Gomet's product portfolio — CV-joint boots, gaiters, and shock absorber kits — serves the independent automotive aftermarket, a channel prized for its resilience relative to original-equipment sales, since vehicle maintenance demand persists regardless of new-car production cycles. For Trelleborg, absorbing Gomet's Italian manufacturing base and established distribution relationships accelerates progress toward that services-revenue milestone.

Market Reaction

Huntsman shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HUN. The announcement of the completed sale reinforces the company's stated intent to optimize its portfolio for returns rather than scale, a message that has resonated with investors attentive to specialty-chemicals valuations amid persistent feedstock cost pressures and uneven industrial demand across Europe and North America.

Outlook

Huntsman's management has signaled continued openness to further portfolio actions — whether additional divestitures, joint ventures, or selective acquisitions — provided they do not strain the balance sheet. With the Gomet proceeds reducing outstanding debt, the company gains incremental financial flexibility heading into the second half of 2026. For Trelleborg, integration of Gomet's Azeglio operations into its sealing-solutions network positions the group to deepen its aftermarket footprint in Europe's large independent-repair channel. The transaction is closed; no regulatory conditions remain outstanding.

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