17 May 2022

PAI Partners (“PAI”), a pre-eminent private equity firm, today announces that it has reached an agreement to sell Perstorp Holding AB (the “Company” or “Perstorp”), a leading sustainability-driven global specialty chemicals company, to Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (“PCG”), for EUR 2.3bn on a cash and debt free basis.

Established in Sweden more than 141 years ago, Perstorp is a leading specialty chemicals player that develops sustainable solutions for the resins and coatings, engineered fluids, and animal nutrition end-markets. With seven state-of-the-art manufacturing sites and three research and development centres worldwide, Perstorp is present in 26 countries, including the US, in Europe and across the Asia Pacific. It has approximately 1,500 employees and serves more than 2,600 customers globally, with its 130 product offerings across 30 product groups.

Over the course of PAI’s investment, it helped Perstorp embark on a solid sustainability strategy, which included developing products and solutions that are used by and required for the sustainable transformation of many industries and end products. For example, under PAI’s ownership, the Company has created a number of innovative solutions such as the production of sustainable methanol from carbon dioxide, residue streams, biogas and green hydrogen at Perstorp’s Stenungsund site, which will replace a significant portion of its fossil-based methanol feedstock by 2026. PAI has supported Perstorp to grow organically and through market consolidation and has helped to enhance the Company’s reputation amongst its customer base for its product quality and customisation, its supply reliability, its customer centricity and its focus on sustainable products.

Fabrice Fouletier, Partner at PAI, commented: “Under the leadership of Jan Secher and the whole of Perstorp’s fantastic management team, the Company has transformed over the past years, becoming a leading-edge precursor in sustainable and innovative specialty chemistry. As a team, we are extremely proud of the achievements to date and also to have supported the significant investments which have laid the foundations of the current and future profitable growth trajectory.
We see a bright future in Perstorp, in particular within the Petronas Chemicals Group, and wish the team every success in their next chapter of growth.”

Further, Ragnar Hellenius, Partner at PAI, added: “With Petronas Chemicals Group taking this major step into new geographical markets and business models by acquiring Perstorp, it is a clear testimony of Perstorp’s unique market position, technological expertise and above all, an outstanding management team supported by a value driven organisation. I feel proud to have been part of Perstorp’s growth journey and it will be a pleasure to follow how Petronas and Perstorp together will transform the industry into green chemistry.”

Jan Secher, President and CEO of Perstorp, said: “We have been grateful for PAI’s expertise during our partnership. Our teams have worked hard to grow the Company over the last few years, and it is incredibly rewarding to see that our efforts have been a success and allowed us to be well positioned for the next phase of our growth.”

The completion of the acquisition is subject to relevant regulatory and shareholders’ approvals.

PAI was advised by Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Willkie Farr & Gallagher.