MidOcean Partners has agreed to sell Agilex Fragrances, a provider of fragrance products and related creative and technical services, to Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned company in the fragrance and flavor business. MidOcean acquired Agilex in December 2012.
Agilex specializes in the development and production of functional fragrance compounds which it sells to consumer and industrial products manufacturers for use as scent components in the air care, personal care, industrial & institutional and household end markets. The company is led by CEO Raymond Hughes and is headquartered in Piscataway, NJ (www.agilexfragrances.com).
During MidOcean’s ownership, the firm hired Mr. Hughes as CEO and appointed three experienced industry executives to the Agilex board including Daniel Stebbins, the former President of the flavor division of Symrise, a major producer of flavors and fragrances; Thomas Virtue, the former President of Givaudan Roure, the world’s largest flavors and fragrance provider; and Brian Connolly, the former Executive Vice President and President of North America for Avon Products.
Also during MidOcean’s ownership, Agilex completed four add-on acquisitions, accelerated new customer acquisition, increased penetration of existing customers and significantly reinvested in the business, culminating with the commissioning of a new, 60,000 square foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing center in Somerset County, New Jersey that opened earlier this year. The four add-on acquisitions were New Jersey-based Oriental Aromatics (the US assets were acquired in February 2014); CPL Aromas (2014); Texas-based Airabella (July 2015); and Texas-based Creative Fragrances (November 2016).
As a result of adding experienced operators, completing four add-on acquisitions, and providing strategic direction to the company, MidOcean realized a 5.6 times return on its invested capital, according to industry sources.
“Agilex has been an excellent investment for MidOcean and continues our strong track record of investing in high quality business in the middle market where we can bring significant strategic and operating resources to affect transformative growth,” said Jonathan Marlow, Managing Director at MidOcean. “We were very fortunate to work with Dan Stebbins and partner with Ray Hughes and his team. Agilex’s accomplishments during our partnership are representative of the value creation we look to drive and actively support in our portfolio companies.”
MidOcean invests in middle market companies active in the business and consumer services sectors. The firm was founded in 2003 and is based in New York (www.midoceanpartners.com).
“Agilex was a prototypical MidOcean investment,” said Mr. Stebbins. “They took a deeply thematic approach to the flavors and fragrances industry, assembling a strong management team and identifying organic growth and acquisition opportunities. Agilex proved to be a terrific platform to consolidate the highly fragmented fragrances sector as it combines the superior resources and capabilities of a multi-national fragrance company with the service flexibility, responsiveness and agility of a mid-sized competitor.”
Firmenich, the buyer of Agilex, is the world’s largest privately-owned company in the fragrance and flavor business. The company has annual revenue of approximately $3.3 billion. Firmenich was founded in 1895 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland (www.firmenich.com).
Houlihan Lokey was the financial advisor to MidOcean on this transaction.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | June 14, 2017
