Rhône Capital sells S&B for €525m

The sale price comprises €311m in cash and a further €214m in Imerys shares, the latter of which will be issued exclusively to the Kyriacopoulos family.

Rhône is selling its entire 39% stake in S&B for cash. The Kyriacopoulos family will hold a 4.4% stake in Euronext Paris-listed Imerys following the transaction.

The sale has been carried out through S&B's Luxembourg-domiciled holding company, S&B Minerals Finance.

The transaction does not include S&B's bauxite activities nor several of its real estate assets in Greece, which will continue to be held on an independent basis by S&B's current shareholders.

Previous investment
Rhône acquired its stake in S&B last year to take the company private. It delisted from the Athens Exchange in June 2013. The Kyriacopoulos family already held its 61% shareholding in the business. Rhône is believed to have invested via its Rhône Capital IV fund.

The company – and the Kyriacopoulos family – entered exclusive negotiations with Rhône in January last year for an offer of 580 cents per share in the business. The offer valued S&B at around €300m.

Company
Founded in 1934, S&B is a mineral mining company and a provider of mining materials and equipment. It operates in the markets of metallurgy, foundry and construction, as well as speciality operations.

The company mines and processes bentonite, perlite, bauxite, zeolite and wollastonite. It also produces continuous casting fluxes and other speciality products for the industrials market.

Its brands include Stollberg, Ibeco, S&B and Otavi Minerals. The group generated €441m in revenues and an adjusted EBITDA of €85.8m in 2013. It employs around 2,000 staff.

People
Kriton Anavlavis is the CEO of S&B, while Ulysses Kyriacopoulos is its chairman. Gilles Michel is the chairman and CEO of Imerys.

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• Topics
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