HUNTSMAN, the US chemical group which saved 1,600 jobs on Teesside when it bought a large slice of ICI seven years ago confirmed yesterday that it was in takeover talks.

The New York stock market-listed corporation said it had received an approach from an unnamed suitor in December with a view to buying the whole company, believed to be worth about £2.4b.

Huntsman confirmed that since then its board of directors had been in talks with several potential buyers or merger partners. In a statement released yesterday following speculation in the Wall Street Journal about the talks, it said: "At this time, the company continues to review its strategic alternatives, which could include a possible sale of the company or remaining an independent public company."

Huntsman said it had engaged lawyers and financial advisors to look at any possible bids.

It added: "There can be no assurance that this review will result in any specific transaction."

The Utah-based group said it would not update the stock exchange again until, or if, its board of directors had approved a possible sale.

However, industry experts last night said stock exchange disclosures like this were common in New York.

Stan Higgins, chief executive of the North-East Process Industry Cluster, said: "Any company that is quoted on the American stock market has to be very open about its financial dealings and anyone that is coming in and starting discussions about takeovers, the American stock market rules require those kind of discussions to be in the public domain.

"These types of announcements are very common among American-quoted companies. I believe it is very early days, so watch this space."

Huntsman was set up by Jon Huntsman in the 1970s and he made his fortune initially through providing the original Big Mac containers.

In the 1990s, McDonald's abandoned the cartons in favour of more environmentally-friendly packaging, but Huntsman continued to grow and today makes chemicals for use in plastics, paints, technology and agriculture, among many others.

The Huntsman family, who are Mormons and pump millions into charitable foundations, still own a large percentage of shares.

The company was the world's largest privately-owned firm before floating on the stock exchange last year.

The Teesside sites, described by Mr Huntsman as his "favourite place in the world", are in Greatham, near Hartlepool and the Wilton International site, near Redcar.

Last year, work began on a £200m polythene plant at Wilton, which secured the jobs of 1,500 Huntsman workers and will underpin between 4,000 and 8,000 chemical jobs in the wider region.

Huntsman's Teesside operations are core to the region's entire chemical sector, which along with the pharmaceutical sector contributes £8bn to the North-East's annual economic output. The process sector directly employs 35,000 people and has another 100,000 jobs dependent on it