Ingevity Corp. (North Charleston, S.C.; www.ingevity.com) today announced it has reached an agreement with Georgia-Pacific to acquire Georgia-Pacific’s pine chemicals business for a cash purchase price of $315 million. The acquisition is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and Ingevity expects to close on the transaction in late 2017.
Georgia-Pacific’s pine chemicals business manufactures and sells pine-based tall oil fatty acids, tall oil rosin, and tall oil rosin esters used in adhesives, cleaners, paints and other coatings, inks, metalworking, mining, oilfield, packaging and rubber processing. Approximately 90 percent of its revenues are in North America. The business manufactures the majority of its products at a Georgia-Pacific site in Crossett, Ark., and employs approximately 70 people.
In purchasing the pine chemicals business, Ingevity will acquire the pine chemicals-related assets at the Crossett plant, saleable inventory, customer lists and the book of business, as well as various patents and trade names associated with acquired product lines.
Separately, Ingevity will enter into a 20-year, market-based crude tall oil (CTO) supply contract with certain of Georgia-Pacific’s paper mill operations.
Ingevity will not acquire Georgia-Pacific’s merchant CTO or crude sulfate turpentine business which will be retained and operated by Georgia-Pacific.
Michael Wilson, Ingevity president and CEO, stated that the acquisition would be accretive to earnings in the first year following closing and that the company expects to derive approximately $11 million in net synergies as a result of the acquisition, most of which would be a result of manufacturing optimization among the combined three chemicals plants and lower transportation and logistics costs.
The company will fund this transaction through an amendment and extension of its bank credit facility. The amended and extended facility, which closed earlier this week, was led by Wells Fargo Securities, LLC; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC; and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith and is comprised of a $550 million revolving credit facility and a $375 million term loan. The $925 million facility matures in May 2022 and includes 13 participating banks.
Citi acted as exclusive financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to Ingevity.
Ingevity provides specialty chemicals and high-performance carbon materials and technologies that help customers solve complex problems. These products are used in a variety of demanding applications, including asphalt paving, oil exploration and production, agrochemicals, adhesives, lubricants, printing inks and automotive components that reduce gasoline vapor emissions.