GCA Altium has acted as exclusive financial advisor to FTSE 100 chemicals firm Croda on the acquisition by its subsidiary Croda Europe of research and development company Plant Impact plc.
The transaction was announced initially in February and has now become effective by means of a scheme of arrangement between Plant Impact and shareholders.
Goole-based Croda Europe is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Croda, a GBP5.7 billion market capitalised company incorporated in 1925. Croda, which employs over 4,200 employees across 36 countries, produces and markets high-performance speciality chemicals and technologies for some of the world’s biggest and most successful consumer brands that are used by many industries and end consumers.
AIM-listed Plant Impact researches and develops crop enhancement chemistry to improve crop yield and quality. Plant Impact’s Group head office and research facility is located at the Rothamsted Centre for Research and Enterprise in Harpenden, UK. It also runs important regional commercial operations in Brazil, the USA, Argentina and West Africa. Plant Impact employs approximately 60 full-time staff with commercial sales in more than 14 countries.
Steve Foots, Group Chief Executive of Croda, says: “I’m delighted to be announcing Croda Europe’s acquisition of Plant Impact. This is high-quality, novel technology that further expands our position in the crop care sector and supports our strategy of investing in high-growth markets and world leading technologies. Plant Impact has assembled a great team, and we’re really excited to work with them to accelerate development of this business.”
The team at GCA Altium who advised Croda on the transaction were Phil Adams, Paul Lines and Matt Furness.
Phil Adams, CEO at GCA Altium, adds: “Croda continues to focus on organic growth in premium markets and through acquisitions to boost its profits and sales. It has been a pleasure working with the management at one of the UK’s leading speciality chemicals companies and the legal team at EY on this transaction. The process required us to collectively work at a very high pace and we are delighted to have achieved a successful outcome.”
