Jul 5 2007
CVC Capital Partners, a leading global private equity firm, today announced that funds managed and advised by CVC have reached an agreement to acquire Taminco, the world’s largest producer of alkylamines and derivatives. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
Taminco produces alkylamines and derivatives, key building blocks for the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, animal feed and water treatment industries. Taminco was established in its current form following a carve-out from UCB in October 2003. From its origin as a chemical intermediates supplier, the company has developed its portfolio with products having strong niche specialty chemical positions. Taminco recently acquired the amines business of Air Products, nearly doubling the firms’ size and firmly positioning itself as the global market leader in methylamines, methylamine derivatives and higher amines.
The company is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium and employs 850 people. Taminco currently has 8 production sites across the world: 2 in Europe (Belgium and Germany), 3 in the US, 1 in Brazil and 2 in China. Taminco expects to generate total sales of approximately €600 million in 2007.
Taminco was sold by AlpInvest Partners in an auction process run by Merrill Lynch. CVC and the management team will acquire Taminco for an Enterprise Value of €0.8 billion. The transaction will be structured with a conventional split between equity and debt. The total equity contribution is expected to be around €200 million. CVC European Equity Partners IV will have a stake of around 75% in the company, whilst the remainder will be held by the existing management team. Debt facilities for the transaction have been provided by Merrill Lynch, Rabobank, Dresdner Kleinwort and Fortis Bank.
Commenting on the acquisition, Geert Duyck, Partner of CVC Capital Partners said: “CVC is delighted to have reached an agreement to acquire Taminco together with its’ management. We look forward to working with the strong management team and supporting them in further successfully growing the business organically and through acquisitions in Europe, the US and Asia.”
Pol Vanderhaeghen, Chief Executive of Taminco said: “This is an exciting opportunity for Taminco to work alongside an experienced global private equity firm with a proven track record in chemicals such as CVC, and it shows a clear path forward for the company. Our priorities and our business structure will remain unchanged. On the contrary, Taminco will be even more focused on globalizing its activities and integrating into new selected derivatives, whilst continuing to remain committed to the safe and responsible production of our quality products. It goes without saying that our achievements to date have been possible thanks to the support of our loyal customers, employees and suppliers who have supported us through the years.”