Basell’s $5.6 billion offer to buy Huntsman is probably the only deal out there for Hunstman. Shares are trading at $24.28, a bit below the $25.25 offer price, indicating investors don’t expect a rival bid. And years of unfruitful merger discussions by Huntsman with other possible suitors make a competing offer now seem unlikely, Jefferies & Co. said in a report.
    But the move may signal other chemical deals are in the works, it said. Basell’s decision to buy Huntsman fits with a wider trend driving M&A: upgrading commodity chemical companies by buying more specialized, and typically more profitable, chemical assets.
    Jefferies’ top M&A candidate is specialty chemical company Hercules, followed by Cytec, which makes aerospace composites, mining chemicals and environmentally friendly coatings. Omnova Solutions, which makes everything from commercial wall coverings to pool liner films, could also be a target, the firm said.
    And Access Industries, a conglomerate run by Russian-born investor Leonard Blatnavik that owns Basell, has already signaled its interest in other deals. Last month Access took a more than 8 percent stake in Lyondell Chemicals and bought the rights to increase that stake up to 15 percent. In a filing, Access said it might buy the whole company and combine it with Basell.