Westlake Chemical continues to pursue the purchase of rival Axiall and plans to nominate 10 independent directors to Axiall's board at the next annual meeting.
Axiall rejected a $2.9bn bid from Houston-based Westlake on 29 January.Axiall's next annual meeting has not been scheduled.
Westlake chief executive Albert Chao said that Westlake has heard from Axiall shareholders who have expressed their desire for Axiall to engage in discussions regarding the proposal.
"Our proposal, which represented a 108pc premium to Axiall's closing price on the day before we submitted it, provides both certainty and upside potential through the combination of cash and an ownership interest in the combined company," Chao said.
Axiall had no immediate comment.
Westlake operates a 290,000 t/yr cracker in Calvert City, Louisiana, in addition to another 1.3mn t/yr of ethylene capacity in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Westlake has acquired 4.4pc of Axiall's stock and retained Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs as financial advisors on the proposal.
The takeover bid comes as Axiall moves forward to build its own US ethylene feed capacity. In December Axiall reached a final investment decision to move forward with a new 1mn t/yr ethylene cracker in Lake Charles, Louisiana, as part of a joint venture with Lotte Chemical, a Korean-based producer. That project is scheduled to begin operations in 2019.
