Rhône Capital to increase stake in Maxam to 71%

Following the announcement, Maxam minority shareholders – a group composed of employees, executives and former employees of the company, who hold a combined 11.5% stake – decided to create a platform to protect their interests. The remainding 17.5% is controlled by Euro Park, Mecamur, Opera Holding and co-investors.

Rhône Capital acquired a 45% stake in Maxam from Advent International in August 2018, in a deal that valued the company at around €600m. Maxam CEO Sánchez-Junco retained the remaining 55% of the company's shares.

The deal ended a seven-year holding period for Advent, during which it supported the strategy set out by the company's management team, enabling it to pursue its domestic and international growth plans by expanding its market presence through organic growth.

Previous funding
Pallas Invest Iberian Fund led the £43m buyout of the company in 1994, leaving management with a 20% stake. BancBoston Capital and PineBridge Investments completed a refinancing of the company, valued at £133m, in 2000. 

Reef Investissements and BancBoston teamed up to acquire the company in 2001 in a secondary buyout believed to be in the region of €50-100m, with management retaining 42.5%.

Portobello Capital – at the time Ibersuizas Inveriones – completed a joint deal with Vista Capital in March 2006 to acquire 49% of Maxam (then known as Unión Española de Explosivos), which at the time was worth €500m. Ibersuizas took 27.4%, while Vista held 22.6%, and the company's management team increased their stake to 50%. Originated by a corporate finance adviser, the transaction involved the acquisition of the 57.5% that previously belonged to Reef and BancBoston. A debt package was provided by Banestoque.

Advent acquired a 49.9% stake in Maxam in September 2011 as part of a secondary buyout from Portobello Capital and Vista Capital, valued at around €900m. The remaining share capital was kept in the hands of the management team. Advent invested in the company via its Global Private Equity VI fund, which closed on €6.6bn in April 2008.

Company
Founded by Alfred Nobel in 1872 as Sociedad Española de la Dinamita, the company was subsequently rebranded as Unión Española de Explosivos in 1896 and as Maxam in 2006.

Based in Madrid, Maxam manufactures and supplies explosives and initiating systems for mining, quarries, infrastructure, construction and seismic prospecting, as well as cartridges and ammunition for the armed forces, and for hunting and shooting.

The group employs 6,500 people across five continents and operates 80 industrial facilities and 140 subsidiaries. It has commercial operations in 100 countries worldwide and generates EBITDA of around €140m from revenues of €1.1bn.

People
Maxam – José Fernando Sánchez-Junco (chairman, CEO).

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