Shearman & Sterling is representing The Dow Chemical Company in the divestiture of its Styron unit to Bain Capital Partners for $1.63 billion. As part of the transaction, Dow has an option to receive up to 15% of the equity of Styron as part of the sale consideration. The transaction is expected to close by August 2010, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals.

The Dow Chemical Company's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high-growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. Styron is expected to have approximately $3.5 billion in revenue (based on 2009 data), with 40+ manufacturing plants in all geographic regions and approximately 1,900 employees. Bain Capital, LLC is a global private investment firm that manages several pools of capital including private equity, venture capital, public equity, high-yield assets and mezzanine capital with approximately $65 billion in assets under management.

The Shearman & Sterling team is being led by New York partner and global M&A co-head George Casey and counsel Heiko Schiwek (New York-Mergers & Acquisitions) and includes partners Samuel A. Waxman (New York-Intellectual Property Transactions), Doreen Lilienfeld (New York-Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits), William Yaro (New York-Finance), Ronald M. Bayer (New York-Finance), Joel Klaperman (New York-Capital Markets), and Douglas R. McFadyen (New York-Tax); counsels Christopher T. Poggi (New York-Finance), Ansgar Simon (London-Tax), Robert Fagiola (New York-Property), and Jason Y. Pratt (New York-Property/Environmental); and associates Stephen Vander Stoep (New York-Mergers & Acquisitions), Sayo Kondo (New York-Mergers & Acquisitions), Tammara Fort (New York-Mergers & Acquisitions), Todd Burski (New York-Mergers & Acquisitions), Gregory Gewirtz (New York-Mergers & Acquisitions), Pamela Okehie (New York-Mergers & Acquisitions), Alexander Schiel (Frankfurt-European Corporate), Tommaso Tosi (Rome-European Corporate), Jordan J. Altman (New York-Intellectual Property Transactions), Elizabeth Roseman (New York-Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits), Kenneth Hemler (New York-Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits), Dan Feldman (London-Project Development & Finance), Nadia Bardiwal (London-Project Development & Finance), Frayda Cywiak (New York-Property), Francis P. Lively (New York-Property), Michael Byrne (New York-Property), Seth Kerschner (New York-Property/Environmental), and Ryan Mahoney (New York-Property).