M&A Deal Summary

Imperial Chemical Industries Acquires Quest International

On May 25, 1997, Imperial Chemical Industries acquired chemicals company Quest International from Unilever for 4.9B GBP

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Imperial Chemical Industries’ 1st transaction in the Chemicals sector.
  • This is Imperial Chemical Industries’ 0th largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is Imperial Chemical Industries’ 1st transaction in the Netherlands.
Investment Fate
  • Quest International was divested to a consortium of strategic buyers in 2006 for 1.2B GBP.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 1997-05-25
Target Quest International
Sector Chemicals
Buyer(s) Imperial Chemical Industries
Sellers(s) Unilever
Deal Type Divestiture
Deal Value 4.9B GBP

Target

Quest International

Naarden, Netherlands
Quest is one of the leading players in the global flavour and fragrance market. Quest was formed in 1905 and is based in Naarden, The Netherlands.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

Imperial Chemical Industries

London, United Kingdom
Category Company
Founded 1926
Sector Chemicals
Employees25,850
DESCRIPTION

Imperial Chemical Industries PLC is a British chemical company.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 1 of 1
Sector (Chemicals) 1 of 1
Type (Divestiture) 1 of 1
Country (Netherlands) 1 of 1
Year (1997) 1 of 1
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
1999-05-04 Huntsman s European Chemicals and Polymers Business

United Kingdom

Huntsman's European Chemicals and Polymers Business is a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty and commodity chemicals throughout its four principal businesses: polyurethane chemicals (in particular "MDI"), propylene oxide ("PO"), petrochemicals (in particular olefins) and titanium dioxide ("TiO2").

Sell £1.7B

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

Unilever

London, United Kingdom
Category Company
Founded 1894
Sector Consumer Products
Employees148,949
Revenue 50.7B EUR (2020)
DESCRIPTION

Unilever is a multinational consumer goods company. Its products include food, beverages, cleaning goods and personal care products. Unilever was founded in 1894 and is based in London, United Kingdom.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 2 of 23
Sector (Chemicals) 1 of 1
Type (Divestiture) 2 of 23
Country (Netherlands) 1 of 5
Year (1997) 2 of 2
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 13
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
1997-01-01 Oxoid Holdings

Basingstoke, United Kingdom

Oxoid Holdings Limited was a leading, vertically integrated European microbiology business. The company developed, manufactured and distributed a range of high quality media cultures and related products required for microbiological diagnosis in the clinical, food and beverage industries worldwide. Oxoid was headquartered in Basingstoke, England where the majority of products were manufactured. There were also plants in Germany, Canada and Scotland.

Sell £85M
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2000-03-02 Grupo Cressida

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Grupo Cressida with operations across Central America, holds strong market positions in the powder detergents, laundry soap, foods and beverages markets. Its leading brands, which are common across the entire region, include Xedex in powder detergents, Xtra in soap bars and Natura's for foods and beverages. All have had a history of continuous growth based on strong branding and innovation.

Buy $314M
Mergr

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