Lanxess pursues hygiene buy

Lanxess has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire the Theseo Group. Subject to the usual French processes of consultation and regulatory approvals, this should be completed in mid-2021, the company said.

Based at Laval, France, Theseo mainly makes disinfection and hygiene products mainly for livestock farming in Europe and Latin America, particularly pigs and poultry. It is also active in water hygiene.

“We are focusing on profitable specialty chemicals and here consumer protection products play an important role. Once we complete the planned acquisition of Theseo, we will yet again expand our high-margin business in this area,” said Matthias Zachert, chairman of the board of management at Lanxess.

Theseo has about 100 employees at sites in Laval, Wietmarschen in Germany, Hull, UK, and Campinas, Brazil. It would become part of Lanxess’s Material Protection Products business unit, which employs about 660 employees and has nine production sites in Germany, the UK, the US, Brazil, India, China and Singapore.

Theseo is expected to have sales of €33 million and an EBITDA in the mid-single-digit million euro range this year. Lanxess gives it an enterprise value of about €70 million and expects it to be earnings-accretive within a year. It believes that rising biosecurity requirements in the relevant fields mean that there is strong growth potential.