KKR to take specialty chemicals firm Chase Corp private for $1.3bn

• At the completion of the deal, Chase will stop trading on the New York Stock Exchange
• The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023
• Perella Weinberg Partners LP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP are serving as advisors to Chase while Goldman Sachs and Kirkland & Ellis LLP advised KKR

KKR has agreed to acquire Chase Corporation, a Westwood, Massachusetts-based specialty chemicals company, in a take-private deal, for about $1.3 billion.

According to terms of the deal, KKR will acquire all outstanding shares of Chase common stock for $127.50 per share in cash. Also, at the closing, Chase will stop trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

“Over its nearly 80-year history, Chase has established itself as a leader in highly-engineered protective materials and built a portfolio of trusted brands, while delivering outstanding customer service,” said Josh Weisenbeck, a KKR partner who leads KKR’s industrials investment team in a statement. “We look forward to supporting Chase on its next phase of growth through developing exciting new products, executing upon strategic acquisitions, and serving customers in growing end-markets, including critical applications in electronics, fiber optics and electric grid infrastructure.”

Also, following the close of the transaction, KKR will support Chase in creating an equity ownership program to provide all employees the opportunity to participate in the benefits of ownership of the company. Since 2011, KKR portfolio companies have awarded billions of dollars of total equity value to over 60,000 non-management employees across more than 30 companies.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Perella Weinberg Partners LP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP are serving as advisors to Chase while Goldman Sachs and Kirkland & Ellis LLP advised KKR.

Chase Corporation was founded in 1946.