Silverfleet acquires Coventya from Equistone

Silverfleet Capital, the European Private Equity firm specialised in buy-to-build, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Coventya from Equistone Partners Europe for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is subject to competition clearances.

Coventya, a Paris-headquartered company with a strong international presence, develops, manufactures and supplies specialty chemicals used for surface treatment. Founded in 1927, Coventya has become one of the world leaders in this niche market, due to its capacity to innovate and the quality of its customer service. The group offers a large range of products used in numerous sectors such as the automotive, luxury and consumer goods, construction, aviation, data storage and oil & gas industries.

In the automotive industry for example Coventya supplies extremely resistant anti-corrosive zinc and nickel alloys. The luxury goods producers use its range of plating chemicals for the decoration of handbags, jewellery, watches and other accessories.

Coventya has teams of highly qualified chemists based in seven R&D centres in France, Germany, Italy and the USA. The group operates in 58 countries on four continents and has 570 employees, 70 of whom are based in France at a site in Villeneuve la Garenne near Paris. For the 2015 financial year ended in September the group had a turnover of €124 million, 85% of which was from outside France.

Equistone became the majority shareholder of Coventya, alongside the management team, in July 2011 and has since supported the group in its global organic expansion as well as with acquisitions in India, Korea and Singapore.

Following Silverfleet Capital’s investment, Coventya intends to continue its international development especially in emerging markets and in the United States while also investing in environmentally friendly technologies. Silverfleet intends to support Coventya in making further bolt-on acquisitions.

Thomas Costa, CEO and Torsten Becker, CFO of Coventya, Commented on the transaction: “We are delighted with what has been achieved during our partnership with Equistone and we would like to thank them for their support over the past five years. We are convinced that Silverfleet Capital is now the ideal partner to continue this international development with and to help us strengthen our position as market leader.”

Alexandre Lefebvre, Partner at Silverfleet Capital said: “Coventya is a perfect example of a medium sized French industrial player that has been able to expand internationally thanks to its innovation and capacity to mobilise high quality teams who are passionate about their work and combine scientific skills, technical know-how and a commitment to high quality customer service.”

Guillaume Jacqueau, Managing Partner of Equistone Partners Europe, said: “Over the last few years Covenyta has become an internationally recognised supplier in a niche market thanks to continued investment in R&D, a diverse client base and targeted overseas acquisitions. We are very proud to have been able to support the management team in this growth and we are completely confident that they will be able to continue in the same way in the future.”

Financing for the transaction will be provided by KBC, CIC and Euromezzanine.

The members of the Silverfleet Capital team involved in the transaction were Alexandre Lefebvre, Maïré Deslandes, Jean Châtillon and Vincent Clément.

The Equistone Partners Europe team responsible for the investment were Guillaume Jacqueau, Arnaud Thomas and Grégoire Châtillon.

Silverfleet Capital was advised by Natexis Partners, Latham & Watkins, Advancy and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Equistone was advised by HSBC, Lazard, Linklaters, Estin & Co. and 8 Advisory.

Management was advised by Banque Privée 1818 and Scotto & Associés.