Ardian acquires Italmatch from Mandarin

Ardian has also acquired the stake of the Malacalza family. Italmatch's senior management, including its CEO Sergio Iorio, has retained its 12% shareholding.

The exit will achieve a 40% IRR for Mandarin's first fund, the €350m Mandarin Capital Partners vehicle. The deal marks the fifth exit for the fund.

Ardian's plans for the company include international expansion with a focus on the US and Asia. The business has been following an acquisitive growth strategy in recent years, with its most recent bolt-ons those of Dequest's phosphonates business and Thermphos International's phosphorus chlorides business last year.

Mandarin picked up Italmatch in November 2010, acquiring a 70% stake in a deal valued at around €100m. The Sino-European firm acquired the company via its €350m Mandarin Capital Partners vehicle. The Malacalza family purchased a 20% stake at the same time, with management acquiring 10%. The parties bought the business from Investindustrial, which reaped an IRR of 35% and a money multiple of 3.5x from the sale, according to unquote" data.

Investindustrial had acquired Italmatch in July 2004, purchasing a 90% stake for around €15m and marking the second time the company has been under its ownership. Investindustrial originally acquired Italmatch in September 1997 alongside Iniziativa Piemonte for around €11.2m in total, before selling the business to Argos Soditic in January 2001 for approximately €25.8m, €18m of which was provided as debt by GE Capital Interbanca.

Company
Founded in 1997 through the Investindustrial-backed management buyout from Saffa Group – which was established in 1929 – Italmatch is headquartered in Genoa with five production sites based in Spoleto and Arese in Italy, Frankfurt in Germany, Zuera in Spain and Newport in the UK. The company also has two production facilities in China and Japan.

Italmatch is a manufacturer of speciality chemicals, namely phosphorus derivatives. Products include phosphorus-based additives for engine lubricant oil and plastics.

Its recent acquisitive strategy is intended to build its market share and product base within the areas of oil and gas, water treatment and lubricants for industrial applications.

The company is expecting to reach turnover of €250m this year, which it says is double its turnover for 2013, as well as an EBITDA of €30m. At the time of Mandarin's acquisition of the company, it generated €90m is revenues and an EBITDA of €18m.

People
Sergio Iorio is the CEO of Italmatch. Philippe Poletti is head of Ardian's mid-cap team.

Advisers
Equity – Fineurop Soditic (M&A); Advancy (Commercial due diligence); KPMG (Financial due diligence); CBA (Tax); Tauw (Environmental due diligence); Giovannelli & Associati (Legal).
Management – Studio Jenny & Partner, Gianmarco Mileni (Legal); Studio STLex Studio Legale e Tributario, Giovanni Ciurlo (Tax).
Vendors – Studio LMCR, Robert Rio (Legal); MGMP & Associati, Paolo Terrile (Legal); Deloitte (Tax).

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• Topics
• Southern Europe
• Buyouts
• Industrials
• Secondary buyout
• Mandarin Capital Management SA
• Ardian (formerly Axa PE)