Stahl, the Dutch dyes and coatings company, is set to buy the leather services business of Swiss chemicals group Clariant for about €70 million ($96 million) to create a massive leader in the leather chemicals industry. Clariant would also receive 23% of Stahl shares, valuing Clariant's Leather Services business at about 7.5 times estimated EBITDA. But Wendel will remain the principal shareholder, with about 70% of Stahl's capital.
Clariant, the world-leading specialty chemicals company with 550 employees in 24 countries, is streamlining various businesses in order to reduce risk and volatility in the global economy, and focus on more profitable products and markets.
"This transaction would expand Stahl's geographic coverage and its product range," Stahl CEO Huub van Beijeren said in a statement. "It would strengthen Stahl's leadership position in leather-finishing products, both in terms of its market share and its range of technical solutions."
The purchase, expected to be finalised next year, would reputedly give Stahl total sales of €616 million and EBITDA of €77 million, and savings of around €15 million might lead to an EBITDA margin of over 15%.
