Platform Specialty Products, a chemical-products company, said in a regulatory filing this week that it is conducting an internal investigation to determine whether certain payments made by a recently acquired subsidiary to third-party agents in West Africa violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
In connection with the implementation of internal controls at crop protection and life science company Arysta LifeScience, which Platform Specialty Products agreed to acquire in 2014, “we discovered certain payments made to third-party agents in connection with Arysta’s government tender business in West Africa, which may be illegal or otherwise inappropriate,” the company said in a Form 10-K on March 11.
Platform Specialty Products said it has engaged outside legal counsel and an outside accounting firm to conduct the investigation “to review the legality of these and other payments made in Arysta’s West Africa tender business, including Arysta’s compliance with the FCPA.” The company also said it has voluntarily notified the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice of the matter and is fully cooperating in their investigations.
“Although the internal investigation is ongoing, based on the results to date,” the company stated, “management does not currently believe that the amount of the payments in question, or any revenue or operating income related to those payments, are material to our business, results of operations, financial condition or liquidity.”
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