Aventis. (Europe in Brief).(Brief Article)

Chemical Market Reporter, April, 2003

AVENTIS will sell 40 percent of its stake in Rhodia to financial buyer Credit Lyonnais, lowering its stake from 25.2 to 15.3 percent by the end of April. As a result of the deal, Aventis will retain 27.5 million Rhodia shares and Credit Lyonnais will have bought 9.9 percent of Rhodia's share capital.

The sale is the first step in Aventis's previously announced plan to reduce its stake in Rhodia to below 5 percent by April 2004, in accordance with a 1999 agreement with US and European Union antitrust agencies. Aventis also holds a 12 percent stake in Clamant, which it does not plan to decrease.