VanDeMark Chemical Inc., a U.S. manufacturer of phosgene and phosgene derivatives, has expanded its business with the acquisition of a European manufacturer of phosgene products.
Framochem Kft, based in Hungary, has more than 100 employees and operates six multi-purpose production lines at its plant in the town of Kazincbarcika in northern Hungary.
According to VanDeMark this acquisition unites two companies with complementary product offerings and creates one of the world's largest independent producers of fine chemicals focusing on phosgenation chemistry. These compounds have applications in the pharmaceutical, agricultural-chemical, personal care, polymer and fine chemical industries.
VanDeMark itself has produced phosgene and phosgene derivatives since 1951 and currently offers a range of more than 30 chemical compounds used in the production of paints and coatings, pharmaceuticals, plastics and polymers, adhesives and sealants and agricultural products. The company has approximately 90 employees.
Michael Kucharski, VanDeMark CEO, said that the combination of the two companies will join together VanDeMark's strengths in the custom side of the market with Framochem's offering in the catalog chemical business.
Upon completion of the transaction, the combined company will have an annual production capacity of 22,000 tons of phosgene.
The acquisition price was not disclosed but Uni-World Capital, VanDeMark's largest private equity owner and sponsor of the transaction, secured senior debt financing from Madison Capital Funding and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, as well as mezzanine financing from Prudential Capital Group.
In addition to that, VanDeMark is raising new equity capital to fund the acquisition of Framochem.
Christopher P. Fuller, managing partner of Uni-World Capital, noted that both VanDeMark and Framochem were originally part of the French state-owned enterprise SNPE.
