Rhodia completes sale of its basic chemicals activities in Europe
Rhodia announced that it has completed the sale of its industrial and commercial activities in Europe related to basic chemicals to Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm. The companies announced on November 4, 2002 the signing of an agreement for the divestiture of these chemical intermediates - including phenol, hydrochloric acid, and soda ash - which are clearly outside Rhodia's core businesses.
This sale thus fits Rhodia's strategy to re-align its portfolio to a growth model based on the cross-fertilization of technologies and the development of high value-added solutions for customers. With the sale, Rhodia exceeded its target announced at the beginning of the year 2002 of generating a total of EUR 500 million from divestitures.
These chemical intermediates represent about EUR 280 million in annual sales and employ approximately 460 people. To provide continuity, Rhodia will retain a minority interest of less than 20% in the business alongside Bain Capital's majority investment.
Bain Capital, which has more than $14 billion in assets under management, has been an active private equity investor in Europe since the 1980s. The firm's European team has strong experience in a variety of industries with "carve-out" transactions in which non-core businesses or assets of corporations are purchased by private investors.
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