One Equity Partners buys in Germany

A subsidiary of US-based investment firm One Equity Partners aims to acquire Sud-Chemie, the listed German chemical group, for €414.4m. The tender offer of €35 per share is more than €35m below Sud-Chemie’s current market capitalisation of €449.9m, but represents a premium of approximately 7% to the volume-weighted average share price during the last three months.

The offer has been accepted by the three main shareholders in Sud-Chemie, AZ-SDC Vermogensverwaltungsgesellschaft (19%), Possehl Beteiligungsverwaltung (10%) and BLB-Beteiligungsgesellschaft Jota (10%). This will give acquisition vehicle SC-Beteiligungsgesellschaft a 39% interest in the company for a value of €162m.

One Equity Partners intends to launch a voluntary takeover bid for all remaining shares in the second half of July at €35 per share. It is aiming to acquire a simple majority in Sud-Chemie AG, which will remain listed.