Advent and Wilbur-Ellis agree to merger of Caldic and Connell
Advent International, one of the largest global private equity investors, and Wilbur-Ellis, one of the largest family-owned companies in the world, have agreed to merge their life sciences and specialty chemicals solutions businesses, Caldic B.V. and Connell, to create a global leader in its sector.
Caldic, a global provider of specialty ingredients and chemicals for the life sciences and industrial formulation markets with a major presence in Europe, North America and Latin America, will benefit by increasing its global presence through a merger with Connell, which is one of the major players in Asia-Pacific.
Under the ownership of Advent International and Wilbur-Ellis, the combined company will benefit from two strong shareholders committed to build a leading global platform offering expertise in specialty ingredients and chemicals solutions and distribution in two high-growth regions: in Asia-Pacific with Connell and in Latin America with Caldic-GTM, following Caldic’s merger with GTM in March 2022.
By extending Caldic and Connell’s global footprint, the merger will accelerate growth opportunities for both principals and customers and drive further investments into people, technical labs, and sites. Together, Caldic and Connell will have more than 3,800 employees across 43 countries, providing solutions to more than 35,000 customers by leveraging 75 formulation centers and application labs and deep application know-how. The combination will generate sales of about EUR 3 billion (USD2.9 billion).
“By bringing together the highly complementary businesses of Caldic and Connell, we will form a truly global business with significant exposure to high-growth regions and very diversified end markets with a high value-add offering. In Wilbur-Ellis, we have found a committed partner who shares our long-term vision of building a fully integrated growth and innovation focused business. We look forward to working together with Wilbur-Ellis and the management teams of both Caldic and Connell in this exciting new chapter which brings synergistic business development opportunities for principals and customers alike,” said Ronald Ayles, managing partner at Advent International.
We couldn’t be more excited about the partnership between Connell and Caldic. With Caldic’s strong global position, and Connell’s 125-year presence in Asia-Pacific, the partnership will immediately establish a global, privately-held specialty chemicals and ingredients distribution leader. The combined organization will provide a broad range of solutions for customers,” said John Buckley, Wilbur-Ellis president and chief executive officer.
In recent years, Caldic has stood out as a rapidly growing, innovation-driven player. The company continuously invests into value-add capabilities and has established itself as a leading player in attractive and high-growth life science end-markets. Caldic’s management team has a track record of acquiring companies and subsequently integrating and accelerating their growth under its ownership.
Alexander Wessels, CEO, Caldic, stated: “We are thrilled that Advent is partnering with Wilbur-Ellis as this will create a unique opportunity to combine two major players, Caldic and Connell, each with a strong family heritage who are supported by a strong private shareholder base with extensive expertise in the sector. Bringing together similar entrepreneurial cultures and complementary geographies reinforces our ambition to establish Caldic as a global growth platform with a significant presence in two high-growth regions, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. This is an exciting moment to join forces as we accelerate our growth and firmly position the business as one of the major global players in our industry.”
