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AZ Electronic Materials gains new shared owner |
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Feb 13, 2007 at 05:05 PM |
 AZ Electronic Materials now has two equal shareowners after The Carlyle Group sold a 50 percent stake in the specialty electronics company it bought from Clariant in 2004. The new investment partner is Vestar Capital Partners, an international private equity firm specializing in management buyouts and growth capital investments.
AZ had revenues of €412 million in 2006 and has consistently grown in excess of 15 percent per annum over the past 3 years, according to The Carlyle Group. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
"We have been thrilled with the tremendous success of our investment in AZ over the past three years and are delighted to remain as a substantial investor in the company going forward," said Robert Easton, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group. "The company's growth trajectory has been outstanding and we are confident about the company's continued growth across all of the company's major product lines. We are delighted to welcome Vestar as partners in this investment. Together with Vestar we plan to continue to invest significantly in the business and to build value as AZ executes on its proven growth strategies."
Last year AZ announced plans to invest €50 million over the next 15 months in development and expansion programs to increase production capacity at key sites around the world to meet customer demand.
"We are delighted with this next chapter in the growth story of AZ Electronic Materials," noted AZ CEO Thomas von Krannichfeldt. "We have two very strong shareholders in Carlyle and Vestar, both with resources dedicated to our global markets. This transaction enables us to continue to grow our business as an independent company and to ensure the business is a strong and sustainable company on the global market. All of the members of our senior management team are excited about our future under this attractive new partnership."
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