Ardian sells ESIM chemicals to Sun European Partners

Headquartered in Linz, Austria, ESIM is a global provider of high-quality agricultural and crop protection chemicals, intermediates and maleic anhydride tree chemicals. The company emerged after Ardian carved-out the two business units: agrochemicals (Exclusive Synthesis, “ES”), and fine chemicals (Maleic Anhydride Intermediates & Specialties, “IM”) from DPx Holdings B.V. in August 2015 and subsequently led the business to independence.

ESIM’s primary focus is to partner with chemical companies in the custom synthesis of their unique compounds. The company has over 75-years of experience in transforming breakthrough ideas into scalable supplies of high-quality fine chemical products and intermediates. 

The intermediates and end products synthesized by the company are important materials for a wide range of industries: ES is among the top three custom manufacturing partners to the global crop protection industry as well as other end markets such as food, feed and pharma. IM is a leading supplier of maleic anhydride specialty ingredients that are used in various end markets such as personal care, nutrition, paints and coatings as well as pharma. 

Over the past three years, Ardian has supported the management team led by CEO, Wolfgang Hillisch; COO, Harald Gruber; and CFO, Bernhard Kienberger in its efforts to combine ES and IM and to build a fully stand-alone platform with its proprietary research and development, sales and marketing, finance and controlling, and IT capabilities. As a result of the integration of the two business areas, significant synergies and strong organic growth were achieved on the basis of existing and new customer relationships and mutual operational benefits. 

ES has considerably expanded its strong position in exclusive synthesis in the area of crop protection chemistry and at the same time expanded into other markets such as cosmetics and fragrances, polymers and coatings. IM has broadened its specialty product portfolio and has tapped into adjacent and new market niches. Investments in business development and R&D have been essential to this success. Additionally, the company set up its own laboratories and more than doubled the number of employees in these areas. Overall, the number of employees has increased over 20% since 2015.

Wolfgang Hillisch, CEO of ESIM, said: “After the successful carve-out, ESIM has demonstrated its leading reputation as an independent provider for fine and agricultural chemistry and has achieved significant growth over the last three years. Ardian provided significant support and industry expertise throughout the process and made a major contribution to our success today. At the same time, we are convinced that we have found an ideal partner in Sun European Partners to support our envisaged growth track.”

Wolfgang Pietzsch, Managing Director in Ardian’s German Buyout team, added: “The step towards independence requires courage and perseverance but also offers large opportunities. The management and employees of ESIM have managed this process incredibly well and have demonstrated the company’s great potential. We are proud to have contributed to the successful development of the business and the optimal foundation for further growth.”
Ardian’s Buyout team has extensive experience in the chemical sector resulting from past and current investments including Eliokem, CABB, Novacap, Italmatch, and DRT.