Ardian portfolio company Italmatch chemicals acquires compass chemical international from one rock capital partners

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Press release

Ardian portfolio company Italmatch chemicals acquires compass chemical international from one rock capital partners

  • 07 June 2016

  • Buyout

  • Italy, Genova

6 minutes de lecture

Ardian portfolio company Italmatch Chemicals, a leading global specialty chemicals group, has acquired 100% of Compass Chemical International, the most important North American independent chemical company active in the production and marketing of phosphonates and additives for water treatment and for the oil & gas market, from US private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners, LLC.

Thanks to this acquisition, Italmatch Group will consolidate its presence in the American market, with an important manufacturing site which will continue to produce Compass’ Mayoquest brand of products. It will also be expanding its water treatment product range, thus strengthening the leading global role of the DequestR brand in a highly strategic business segment.

This is the third acquisition in the water treatment industry by Italmatch since Ardian became the major shareholder in June 2014, and falls into the company’s growth strategy through acquisitions, aimed at establishing Italmatch as a leading global player in its market sectors. Italmatch acquired GRS Chemical Technologies S.r.l., a company active in the production of soluble polymers for water treatments and additives for combustion, in December 2014 and Solvay's desalination, phosphonates and phosphonic acid-based water additives business in January 2016. 

Sergio Iorio, CEO of Italmatch Chemicals, has stated: “Thanks to this transaction we will expand our product range for the Water Treatment markets and will noticeably increase our presence in the oil & gas industries. This will be possible also thanks to the presence of Compass in Texas, benefiting from the high reputation of Compass Chemical International along with its excellent track record, its strong customer loyalty, and its exceptional ability to continuously develop new products and applications”. 

Yann Chareton, Managing Director of the Mid Cap Buyout team of Ardian, added: “The overseas acquisition of Compass represents a further important step in the strategy of development and in the internationalization of Italmatch, undertaken with Ardian. Our aim is to guide our portfolio companies in a growth path on a global scale, creating value for every stakeholder. Along with Italmatch and its excellent management, two years after the investment we can confirm that the big development opportunities that Ardian had foreseen have been taken, and we still see Italian industrial significant growth margins for a group that represents excellence”.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian, founded in 1996 and led by Dominique Senequier, is an independent private investment company with assets of US$55bn managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia. The company, which is majority-owned by its employees, keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and delivers investment performance to its global investors while fuelling growth in economies across the world. Ardian’s investment process embodies three values: excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship.

Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 410 employees working through twelve offices in Paris, London, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Zurich, New York, San Francisco, Beijing, Singapore, Jersey and Luxembourg. The company offers its 470 investors a diversified choice of funds covering the full range of asset classes through Ardian Funds of Funds (comprising primary, early secondary and secondary activities), Ardian Private Debt, Ardian Direct Funds (comprising Ardian Mid Cap Buyout, Ardian Expansion, Ardian Growth and Ardian Co-Investment), Ardian Infrastructure, Ardian Real Estate and customized mandate investment solutions with Ardian Mandates.

ABOUT ITALMATCH CHEMICALS

Italmatch Chemicals, founded in 1998 and led by Sergio Iorio is a leading innovative chemicals group, specialising in performance additives for lubricants, water & oil treatment, and plastics, and boasts a wide range of specialty chemicals able to fulfil the requirements of the most demanding applications, including personal care.

The group generates 340 million euros in revenues and operates through six manufacturing plants in Europe (Italy, Spain, Germany and UK) and four in Asia Pacific (China and Japan), and sales/distribution subsidiaries in Belgium, Poland, Japan, Singapore, India, China and the USA. The company has a global presence and over 500 employees. Compass is the first Italmatch manufacturing site in the USA.

Ardian, the largest European independent private investment company, acquired the majority of Italmatch Chemicals together with the management in July 2014, and is committed to support the company’s growth.

ADVISOR

  • Legal due diligence and contracts

    • Giovannelli & Associati
  • Advisor for the financing

    • Gattai Minoli Agostinelli & Partners
  • Strategic advisor

    • Advancy
  • Financial, tax and deal structure due diligence

    • KPMG
  • Insurance due diligence

    • Willis

Press contact

ARDIAN

Cristina Fossati, Luisella Murtas, Anna Pirtali

ardian@imagebuilding.it

+39 02 89011300

ITALMATCH CHEMICALS

Pietro Como

p.como@barabino.co.uk

+44 (0)207 1526425

ITALMATCH CHEMICALS

Lodovico Sanseverino

l.sanseverino@barabino.co.uk

+44 (0)207 1526425