Surface Solutions reported an 11% rise in revenue last year to 410 million euros, recovering from a slump in 2020 due to the pandemic, Merck's 2021 annual report showed.
The family-controlled group is seeking to expand in specialty materials for electronics, lab equipment and biotech services as well as selected areas of drug development.
If successful, the sale would underpin Merck's ambitions to pursue larger takeover deals worth as much as 20 billion euros from next year after having reduced its debt. Heubach, in partnership with SK Capital, bought Clariant's pigments business last year, creating a global pigment technology and industry leader. Merck and Goldman Sachs declined to comment while Heubach and SK Capital were not immediately available for comment. The sale is expected to kick off next year once market conditions improve, they said. Surface Solutions makes pigments for a pearlescent or metallic shine in coatings, plastics and cosmetics and could be valued at about 1 billion euros ($1.03 billion), the sources said.
The business, known as Surface Solutions, has already drawn interest from Austrian rival Heubach, owned by SK Capital Partners, one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. FRANKFURT, Nov 17 (Reuters) - German diversified group Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE) has tapped Goldman Sachs (GS.N) to revive a $1 billion sale of its pigments division after previous attempts to sell the business fell through during the pandemic, three sources told Reuters.
0 kommentar(er)
