Imerys has entered into exclusive negotiations with Syntagma Capital for the potential sale of most of its assets producing kaolin, ground calcium carbonate (“GCC”), precipitated calcium carbonate (“PCC”) and talc, which primarily serve the paper markets for an enterprise value of €390 million including an earn out depending on the future performance of the business.
These activities are operated by approximately 950 employees in 24 plants in the Americas and Asia, as well as certain locations in Europe. In total, these activities represented about €400m in sales in 2021, approximately 8% of the Group 2021 total sales.
Syntagma Capital is an investment firm based in Brussels, Belgium, which invests in materials, chemicals, industrials, and B2B services sectors.
Alessandro Dazza, CEO of Imerys, said: “In Syntagma, we have found a partner that shares Imerys’ values and passion for delivering mineral solutions in a responsible way. We are confident that our employees, customers, and the business overall will flourish and develop under the new ownership. I would like to thank the teams for their outstanding work in building this business over the years. I know they will continue delivering excellent results in the future.”
Along with the contemplated divestiture of the High-Temperature Solutions business announced at the end of July, this sale would mark another important milestone in the Group’s efforts to focus on its core high-growth specialty minerals business. With this in mind, Imerys looks forward to presenting its growth strategy to investors during a Capital Markets Day on November 7th, 2022.
The closing of the transaction is expected in the course of 2023. The transaction remains subject to the fulfillment of customary conditions for this type of transaction, including the information and consultation of works councils and other regulatory approvals.
The world leader in mineral-based specialty solutions for industry, with €4.4 billion revenue and 17,000 employees in 2021, Imerys delivers high value-added, functional solutions to diversified set of industrial sectors, from processing industries to consumer goods.