Cinven to invest in Barentz

Cinven has agreed to invest in Barentz, a Dutch specialty ingredients distributor for the food, pharmaceutical, personal care and animal nutrition markets. No financial terms were disclosed. 1602 Capital Partners acted as M&A adviser to Cinven on the deal.

PRESS RELEASE

Cinven, the international private equity firm, today announces that it has reached an agreement to become a shareholder of Barentz (the ’Group’), a global specialty ingredients distributor for the food, pharmaceutical, personal care and animal nutrition markets. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Barentz distributes ingredients and additives for products to SMEs and large customers globally. The Group sources branded speciality ingredients from leading manufacturers worldwide. In addition, through its state-of-the-art production facilities in Europe, North America and Asia, Barentz’ ingredient experts provide value-added technical support including pre-mixing, blending, ingredient formulation and ingredient testing.

Established in 1953, Barentz has operations in more than 60 countries with a strong presence in Europe and Asia, and a growing presence in North America and Latin America. Today, the Group employs circa 1,100 people worldwide, sources ingredients from more than 1,000 suppliers and serves over 15,000 customers.

Cinven’s Business Services and Benelux teams identified Barentz as an attractive investment opportunity, given:
· Its strong presence in attractive, structurally growing and resilient markets;
· Its value-added proposition to both a large number of ingredient manufacturers and a highly diversified end-customer base;
· Significant buy and build opportunities in a highly fragmented market. Barentz has a proven track record of executing and integrating acquisitions;
· Strong historic financial performance and cash generation;
· Opportunities to accelerate the growth of the business through investment in the Group’s infrastructure as well as R&D capabilities; and
· Highly experienced management team, led by CEO Hidde van der Wal.

Ben Osnabrug, Partner at Cinven, commented:

“Barentz has a strong presence in a structurally growing market. The Cinven team knows the speciality distribution sector well, with the key trends driving the growth of the food and life sciences ingredients market including a shift towards natural ingredients, increased demand for customised formulations, and a growing share of manufacturers using distributors to drive market access and to improve efficiencies.

“Cinven’s investment in Barentz resulted from a combination of our detailed sub-sector approach within Business Services and our regional network in the Netherlands, and we are delighted to invest in this primary opportunity. In particular, Barentz has an excellent management team whom we can back to pursue both organic and buy and build growth.”

Hidde van der Wal, Chief Executive of Barentz, said: “We are delighted to be working with Cinven on the next phase of our growth. The Cinven team has really impressed us with their understanding of our market and their strong track record of growing businesses internationally.

“In particular, their investment and support for our business strategy will enable us to expand our operations into new geographic markets, including through acquisition, and will ensure we have the right infrastructure to achieve this.”

Completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions including competition clearances.

1602 Capital Partners acted as M&A advisor for Cinven.

About Cinven
· Cinven is a leading international private equity firm focused on building world-class European and global companies.

· Its funds invest in six key sectors: Business Services, Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials, and Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT).

· Cinven has offices in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Guernsey, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and New York.

· Cinven takes a responsible approach towards its portfolio companies, their employees, suppliers, local communities, the environment and society.

· Cinven Capital Management (V) General Partner Limited and Cinven Capital Management (VI) General Partner Limited are each authorised and regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and Cinven Partners LLP, the advisor to the Cinven Funds, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

· In this press release ‘Cinven’ means, depending on the context, any of or collectively, Cinven Group Limited, Cinven Partners LLP, Cinven (LuxCo1) S.A., and their respective Associates (as defined in the Companies Act 2006) and/or funds managed or advised by the group.

· For more information, please visit www.cinven.com

About Barentz
Barentz is a leading global provider of ingredients for the life sciences markets. Representing world-class suppliers, Barentz offers customers a comprehensive portfolio of speciality ingredients, including unique specialty ingredients and blends from Barentz-owned production companies, all supported by the best technical teams and top-of-the-line application labs. Barentz commitment to quality was recently recognised with an award at CFIA France 2018. Barentz (established in 1953) operates in more than 60 countries and employs more than 1,100 people worldwide. To learn more, visit www.barentz.com.