MOSCOW (MRC) -- Apax Partners agreed to buy a majority stake in Azelis from 3i Group Plc to help the European chemical-distribution company expand globally, said Bloomberg.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter, London-based 3i said in a statement Wednesday. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Azelis generated 944 million euros (USD1.1 billion) in sales and 38 million euros in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in 2013, according to its website.
Apax Partners had been proactively targeting the specialty-chemical distribution industry and was keeping an eye on Azelis over the last couple of years, partner Frank Ehmer said in the statement. The buyout firm, also based in London, is entering the industry after Azelis competitor IMCD Group NV sold shares to the public last year and as rival Univar Inc. plans to follow suit.
"Azelis has undergone a significant transformation," Robert Van Goethem, a partner at 3i, said in the statement. "Despite the challenging European economic environment in recent years, the company has successfully expanded into new markets and in its core market segments."
Azelis, based in Antwerp, Belgium, would provide Apax with a foothold to expand globally as large chemical-distribution companies such as Brenntag AG swallow up smaller ones in fast-growing emerging markets.
Chief Executive Officer Hans-Joachim Mueller, a former executive at Clariant AG and BASF SE, is expanding Azelis into emerging markets such as Morocco and Indonesia, opening laboratories to offer clients from paintmakers to cosmetic companies more choice on formulations.
As MRC wrote before, Azelis announces a new distribution contract with Evonik, a leading specialty chemicals manufacturer. In addition to other European countries, Azelis can now also offer products in Evonik’s Crosslinkers business line to customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH) for coatings, inks and other applications.