Private equity firm Advent International and agribusiness Wilbur-Ellis have combined their life sciences and specialty chemicals solutions businesses to form a global distribution platform with combined sales of around €3 billion (US$2.9 billion). 

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 a major player in Asia-Pacific.

“Under the ownership of Advent and Wilbur-Ellis, the combined company will benefit from two strong shareholders committed to build a leading global platform offering thorough 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,” detail the companies.

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 operations across 43 countries, which include 75 formulation centers and application labs.

In other business developments, DSM reached an agreement in May to sell its Engineering Materials business to Advent International and LANXESS for an Enterprise Value of €3.85 billion (US$3.94 billion). 

Advent oversaw the consolidation of Caldic and GTM – a portfolio company owned by Advent – last March, in a move to grow its specialty ingredients and chemicals business. Caldic’s product portfolio includes food ingredients, specialty chemicals and functional solutions for various life sciences and industrial end markets.