Ardian's Italmatch bolts on Jiayou Chemical

Italmatch bought the business from Ecolab, a US company that specialises in industrial water treatment, generates revenues of around $14bn and is listed on the NYSE.

Following the transaction, Italmatch plans to bolster its international expansion by strengthening its presence in Asia-Pacific and diversify its production. With the new acquisition, the company forecasts to reach revenues of more than €400m in 2018.

This is the fourth bolt-on for Italmatch in the last year, after the acquisition of US peer Detrex Corporation, Brazilian speciality chemical distribution business Sudamfos do Brasil and French company Magpie Polymers.

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 GP is planning to sell the company and has held early-stage talks with European private equity funds, including Cinven, Unquote understands.

Company
Based in Changzhou, in the Chinese Jiangsu province, Jiayou specialises in the production of phosphonate antiscalants used in reverse osmosis, a process to treat water by removing dissolved and suspended particles. The company was part of the Jianghai Environmental Protection group, acquired by Ecolab in June 2015 for around $190m.

People
Italmatch Chemicals – Sergio Iorio (CEO).
Ecolab – Douglas Baker Jr (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – KPMG (financial due diligence); Studio Giovannelli & Associati (legal).

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