Alantra advises Sun European Partners and the management of ESIM Chemicals on the sale of IM Chemicals to Vertellus Specialties

Jun 2021

Sell-side advisory

Frankfurt – Alantra, the global investment banking and asset management specialist, is pleased to announce that it has advised Sun European Partners and the management team of the Austrian-based ESIM Chemicals (“ESIM” or “the Company”), on the sale of its Intermediates & Specialty chemicals division (“IM Chemicals or “IM”) to Vertellus Specialties (“Vertellus”). The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

ESIM is headquartered in Linz (Austria) and has more than 75 years of chemical experience. The company is a leading global provider of high quality agricultural and crop protection chemicals, intermediates, and maleic anhydride derivative chemicals. Following the proposed divestment of IM, ESIM will continue to focus on its high value, custom manufacturing business that produces highly complex molecules primarily for agrochemical products, as well as other markets including food, feed and pharmaceuticals. ESIM is amongst the top three suppliers of choice for high complexity molecules.

The IM division produces maleic anhydride and fumaric acid as well as high value specialty chemicals for use across a diverse group of end markets including coating, pigments, construction and pharmaceutical. The sale of the division will complement the Vertellus portfolio, adding new specialty products, which will benefit the current markets it serves.

Frank Wegener, CEO of ESIM, stated: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement on this trade sale, which will enable ESIM to focus entirely on the high value business where multinational agrochemical players are core clients. The expected sale will unlock and accelerate the development of ESIM’s custom manufacturing business, which is also expected to benefit from current structural tailwinds in this market. IM as a leader in various niche markets for maleic anhydride-based specialties, will be highly complementary to Vertellus, where it will be a strong and strategic addition to their current suite of products and markets. We believe Vertellus is a great new owner for IM and will enable the business to further accelerate growth going forward due to the high complementary of the product portfolio and synergies.”

He mentioned further: “We would like to thank the Alantra team for their continuous efforts and support from day one. Their hands-on mentality and engagement were instrumental for the success of this highly strategic endeavor, especially given the general challenges triggered by the global pandemic.”

Wolfram Schmerl, Managing Partner at the Frankfurt office of Alantra, added: “It was a pleasure to support Sun European Partners and the management team of ESIM during this journey. We appreciate the remarkable collaboration and strong professionalism of the teams making this success a true team effort. After the sale of Elix Polymers in 2019, IM represents the second successful deal advised for Sun in the last 3 years.”