Dow divests German Solvents Service and Products Provider to Private Equity Firm
Chemicals multinational The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) (Midland, MI – United States) will divest its subsidiary SAFECHEM Europe GmbH (Düsseldorf, Germany) to CPBE Capital LLP (London, United Kingdom), a private equity firm, focused on mid-market investments.
Founded in 1992 as a joint venture between Dow and German conglomerate VEBA’s subsidiary Westab (then a sister company of chemical distributor Brenntag) in response to tightening environmental regualtion for Chlorinated Solvents, SAFECHEM Europe today is “a leading pan-Europe an provider of services and products related to the safe and sustainable use of Chlorinated and Non-Chlorinated Specialty Solvents for Surface and Dry Cleaning.” The company pioneered the closed-loop SAFE-TAINER™ system, which together with proprietary formulated additives and monitoring and testing services, can reduce the chemical consumption of a cleaning process by up to 95%. The system also minimises emissions and the risks of operator handling. It enables customers to use selected high-performance solvents safely and in an environmentally responsible manner.
Key applications are in the Automotive, Aerospace and Measuring Instrument sectors, as well as in the Medical Instrument and Optical Technology industries, where the company services over 5’000 customers, often in close co-operation with chemical distributors, from its offices in Germany and across Europe.
No financial details were disclosed on the transaction.
The company continues to be led by Manfred Holzleg, who has been the Managing Director for several years. William Cortazzi has been appointed as Chairman of the Board. CBPE says it intends to work with William Cortazzi and the management team to support the acceleration of SAFECHEM’s growth both though geographic expansion as well as the launch of new products.
Source: SAFECHEM customer & partner communication, CBPE website, DistriConsult analysis
HGE – DCG / 22.12.2016 & 27.01.2017
