Vantage Specialty Chemicals acquires German surfactant maker
Chicago, Illinois – based Vantage Specialty Chemicals was incorporated in 2008 (but the core of the business has been operating as a subsidiary of various companies for much longer). Currently, the global private equity firm H.I.G. Capital owns Vantage.
Vantage has manufacturing facilities throughout the US and sales offices in Europe, Africa, China, and Latin America. And, now the company has a surfactant-manufacturing subsidiary in Leuna, Germany.
“The acquisition of LTG is a transformational deal for Vantage that provides us with a strategic manufacturing footprint in Europe,” says Tiffany Kyllmann, chief strategy officer of Vantage, in a media release announcing the deal.
She continues, explaining that, “LTG’s production facility is attractively located in Germany with products and chemistries that are similar to those of Vantage. The synergistic combination of LTG with Vantage will bring enhanced value for our customers through a broader technology portfolio with expanded global manufacturing capacity and customer service.”
Trends and legacies
Vantage hopes that LTG's capacity to make niche and small volume products will give Vantage an advantage with customers formulating sulfate-free and soap-free personal care products.
At present, “LTG’s product portfolio includes anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, and emulsifiers that are based on naturally derived ingredients and are used in a diversified range of end markets including personal care, soaps and detergents, industrial cleaning, lubricants, and paints and coatings,” explains the media release.
And the new business comes with its own legacy in Europe too. LTG got its start in 1931 when “Prof. Carl Bosch (1874–1940) and Prof. Friedrich Bergius receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the technical realization of the catalytic synthesis of ammonia,” according to an historical outline on the company’s site. In 1940, production of surfactants actually began at LTG.
“We are very excited to add LTG to the Vantage platform,” Keval Patel, managing director at H.I.G., tells the press.
“This transaction fits our core strategic plan of expanding our manufacturing footprint globally with a core focus on the specialty personal care and food ingredients markets. We are very excited to partner with the LTG team as we grow our European business,” he says.
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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.
