Mondi to acquire Duino mill

Platinum Equity announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Solenis, a leading global producer of specialty chemicals used in water-intensive industries, from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (“CD&R”) and BASF in a transaction that implies an enterprise value for Solenis of $5.25 billion. As part of the transaction, Solenis is expected to merge with Sigura Water, an existing Platinum Equity portfolio company the firm acquired in 2019, for a total combined transaction value of approximately $6.5 billion. The combined company is expected to generate approximately $3.5 billion of revenue and serve a diverse range of customers around the world in consumer, industrial and pool water treatment markets. Founded in 1907 and headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Solenis is a global leader in supplying innovative specialty chemicals and services for process, functional and water treatment applications to consumer and industrial markets.

Ahlstrom’s transformation efforts are delivering results. Our comparable EBITDA in the third quarter reached a record level, reflecting our ongoing commitment to performance and growth. Driven by our dedication to science and our desire to help customers navigate global trends, we continue to launch new products, with the introduction this quarter of recyclable packaging material for the bouillon cube segment. This innovation replaces thousands of tons of plastic and supports sustainable development. Moreover, our enhanced customer collaboration has led to our customer loyalty score reaching the highest decile in our industry in the latest measurement, which makes me particularly proud. Our margin on variable cost per ton continued to increase to a record high level, thanks to our improved operational performance driven by our transformation initiatives. Adjusted for the Stenay divestment in 2023, our deliveries increased by 1% compared to the previous year. We continued to strengthen our business portfolio by consolidating our footprint in parchment paper production at the Saint-Séverin site following the closure of the Bousbecque mill. Our centralized operations ensure efficiency and continued growth. In addition, we successfully completed the transaction to divest the Aspa pulp mill in November, supporting our growth transformation and focus on specialty materials production.

Mondi has started up new production lines for melt-blown nonwoven fabric and medical face masks at its site in Gronau, Germany to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Mondi Gronau has over 50 years of experience in the production and processing of films, nonwovens and elastic components for hygiene products. Last year Mondi announced it would start up production lines to produce both the important base material, melt-blown nonwoven fabric, as well as the medical face mask themselves. With the new lines, Mondi is building up a local value chain in Germany to address the needs of the pandemic. The fully integrated production with two highly automated high-speed machines allows the output of 700 high-quality medical face masks per minute. This is approximately seven times higher than the standard face mask production line and will produce at least one million medical grade masks a day. The masks are certified as a medical product by the German Johner Institute as well as meeting the German standards OEKO-TEX and Dermatest.