3i Buys Azelis Group

3i Group has acquired European chemical distributor Azelis Group from Cognetas (f.k.a. Electra Partners Europe) for Euro 315 million. Azelis was formed in 2001 via the merger of Novocherm (< ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Italy) and Arnaud (France). www.3i.com www.azelis.com< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />