Westlake Chemical agrees $33 a share to acquire Axiall Corp

Houston-based Westlake Chemical has agreed to pony up with $33 a share in cash to acquire long-standing bid target Axiall Corp for a total of about $2.4bn.

The deal -- bringing an end to a five-month tussle between the pair over Westlake's bid price -- is valued at $3.8bn, including assumption of debt, Bloomberg reported.

It has yet to be approved by either Axiall shareholders or regulators, and was seen closing fourth-quarter 2016.

The acquisition comes amid a record amount of deal making in the chemical industry.

This was led by the merger of DuPont and Dow Chemical in December last year, and Syngenta's February agreement to be acquired by China National Chemical Corp.

Acquiring Axiall serves to expand Westlake’s integration into raw materials -- ethylene and chlorine, for instance -- and finished products made with PVC, the news agency reported.

Westlake's previous tilts for Axiall were at £20-a-share in January, and then $23.35 in March.