Rhodia sells its North American specialty phosphates business
Rhodia announced the signing of a definitive agreement with Bain Capital for the sale of Rhodia's North American specialty phosphates business for an enterprise value of 550 million dollars (approximately 460 million euros at today's exchange rates), representing an EBITDA multiple greater than seven. The agreement is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of 2004.
The business is a leading, diversified producer of phosphoric acid and phosphates for use in a wide variety of industrial applications, including food, pharmaceuticals, water and metal treatment, horticulture, textiles and detergents. It had total net sales of 400 million euros in 2003 and employs 1,075 people.
The business will be managed by the existing senior management team and will be renamed upon completion of the transaction. As part of the sale agreement, Rhodia will continue to market phosphates with applications in pharmaceuticals.
"With the divestments already announced by the Group since the beginning of the year, this transaction will enable us to achieve around 880 million euros from divestitures in 2004 at an average multiple of 10 times EBITDA," said Rhodia CEO, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu. "These divestments also represent an important step in refocusing the Group on a more limited portfolio of strategic businesses. We can now concentrate our resources on managing our businesses and improving their performance."
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