Ardian to sell Italmatch Chemicals

Alessia Argentieri
07 March 2018

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Ardian is planning to sell Italmatch Chemicals, an Italian chemicals business that specialises in the production of phosphorus-based additives for engine lubrication oil and plastics.

The GP has held early-stage talks with some European private equity funds, including Cinven, Unquote understands.

According to Reuters, the deal could be valued at around €600m, which would equate to 9x the company's 2017 EBITDA, and Ardian will likely have a formal auction in the second half of the year and mandate a sell-side adviser before the summer.

Ardian bought a majority stake in Italmatch in 2014 from Mandarin Capital Partners and the Malacalza family, while the company's senior management, including CEO Sergio Iorio, retained a 12% shareholding. The company was previously owned by Investindustrial, Argos Soditic and Iniziativa Piemonte.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Genoa, Italmatch has several production sites in Italy, Germany, Spain, the UK, China and Japan. In November 2017, Italmatch acquired Sudamfos do Brasil, a Brazilian speciality chemicals distribution and marketing company. The group generated an EBITDA of €65m from revenues of €350m in 2017 and forecasts to reach €70m of EBITDA in 2018.