Bain's Italmatch bolts on BWA Water Additives

Italmatch bought the company from private investment group Berwind.

The acquisition was financed with a combination of Italmatch debt and a fresh equity injection. According to a statement, Fire, Italmatch Chemicals' parent company, obtained commitments for the debt component of the financing, which is intended to complement the Italmatch Chemicals Group's existing debt capital structure.

Following the acquisition, the group expects to benefit from strategic, commercial and industrial synergies, and be able to expand Italmatch's current production and marketing capabilities in the water management chemicals market.

Italmatch generates annual revenues of €440m and operates seven manufacturing plants located in Europe, five in Asia Pacific and five in North America. The company employs a staff of 800 people and has sales and distribution subsidiaries in Brazil, Belgium, China, Japan, India, Poland, Singapore and the US.

Bain Capital acquired Italmatch from Ardian in June 2018, in a deal reportedly valued at around €700m. The GP invested via its fourth Europe-focused fund, Bain Capital Europe IV, which held a final close in 2014 on €3.5bn. 

The SBO ended a four-year holding period for Ardian, which bought a 67.7% stake in Italmatch from Mandarin Capital Partners and a minority holding from the Malacalza family in 2014, reaching a total ownership of 88%. The deal valued the company at around €220m at the time.

Berwind acquired BWA in 2011 from Bahrain-based Seera Investment Bank. According to Manchester Evening News, the deal was valued at £185m. Seera Investment Bank, formerly known as United International Bank, bought BWA from Close Brothers Private Equity in September 2008.

Company
Established in 1973, BWA is a provider of speciality water chemicals for the industrial water treatment, desalination, oilfield, and natural gas industries. The company's products are sold under the Belgard, Belclene, Belcor, BromiCide, Bellasol, Belsperse, Flocon, Bellacide and Sper Sal brands.

BWA is headquartered in Manchester and has regional offices in Atlanta, Dubai, Shanghai and Tokyo. It operates several production facilities located in Canada, China, France, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, the UK and the US, as well as two R&D facilities based in Manchester and Atlanta. It sells its products in 80 countries worldwide.

People
Italmatch Chemicals – Sergio Iorio (CEO).

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