Sand-based proppant and industrial minerals producers Fairmount Santrol Inc. and Unimin Corp. (a wholly owned subsidiary of SCR-Sibelco N.V.) have entered into a definitive agreement to merge through a cash and stock transaction. Following the merger, Unimin Corp. will become the largest American proppant producer with close to 26 million tons of expected frac sand production for pro forma 2018. The company also has an industrial minerals business that will contribute about 30% of its annual sales, which--in our view--moderates its exposure to the cyclical oil and gas end markets. We are assigning our 'BB' corporate credit rating to Unimin Corp. At the same time, we are assigning our 'BB' issue-level rating and '3' recovery rating to the company's new
