Haltermann, a producer of specialty hydrocarbons and a portfolio company of H.I.G. Europe, has acquired Petrochem Carless, a UK-based refiner and producer of hydrocarbon chemicals.
Petrochem Carless (PCL) is a specialty oil and chemicals company that supplies condensate products like naphtha, kerosene and white spirit. The company also produces aromatic solvents, drilling fluids, process oils, performance fuels as well as antifreeze and brake fluid products. PCL’s products are used in the downstream chemicals, agrochemicals, oil and gas, consumer goods, printing, and automotive sectors. The company’s revenues in 2012 were approximately £350 million. PCL operates a specialist refinery in Harwich, UK and blending sites in Gunness, UK and Ghent, Belgium. The company was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Leatherhead, UK (www.petrochemcarless.com).
Haltermann is a producer of specialty hydrocarbons with a particular focus on pentanes, high purity hydrocarbons and test and reference fuels. H.I.G. Europe acquired Haltermann from Dow Chemical in July 2011. Haltermann is based in Hamburg, Germany (www.haltermann.com).
“With this milestone follow-on investment, H.I.G. Europe brings together two strong players in the European specialty hydrocarbon landscape. It is our goal to ensure that both companies continue their growth trajectory. This investment underlines H.I.G.’s investment strategy which focuses on supporting its portfolio companies to drive significant value creation through various growth and efficiency improvement initiatives,” said Paul Canning, Managing Director at H.I.G. Europe.
The H.I.G. deal team for this acquisition consisted of Mr. Canning, Wolfgang Biedermann, Johannes Natterer, Alastair Mills, and Amer Khatoun.
H.I.G. Capital specializes in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies and invests in management-led buyouts and recapitalizations of manufacturing or service businesses. H.I.G. Capital has more than $11 billion of equity capital under management. The firm was founded in 1993 and is based in Miami with additional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, San Francisco, London, Hamburg, Madrid, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro (www.higcapital.com) (www.higeurope.com).
“PCL and Haltermann are an almost perfect fit. With their common technology and raw material markets, and yet complementary sales patterns with regard to products and regions, they together will have a significantly enlarged product offering and regional coverage which we intend to leverage to generate strong growth and better serve our customers,” said Dr. Johannes Natterer, Director at H.I.G. Europe.
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-24-13
