Grace Matthews advises Water Science Technologies on its sale to Italmatch Chemicals Group

MILWAUKEE (September 27, 2019) – Water Science Technologies (WST), a leading blender and chemical solutions provider, announced today that is has been acquired by Italmatch Chemicals Group (Italmatch), a global specialty chemical group focused on the production and marketing of performance additives for water & process treatment, oil & gas, industrial lubricants and plastics.  Grace Matthews, Inc. advised Water Science Technologies on this transaction.
Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, WST serves the North American industrial water treatment and oil & gas industries and generates approximately $75 million in revenue with almost 40 employees. With a strong market position, WST operates via four strategically located facilities in North America to satisfy the most demanding chemical and logistics needs.
The acquisition by Italmatch, headquartered in Genoa, Italy, further strengthens its leadership in the North American oil and gas market, broadening the Italmatch Global Advanced Water Solutions business unit product portfolio, and application know-how, with accretive contribution to its Research and Development capabilities, thanks to advanced in-house lab equipment, competence and logistic service capabilities.
ABOUT WATER SCIENCE TECHNOLOGIES Established in 2000 and headquartered in Birmingham, AL, Water Science Technologies is a leading formulator, blender, and provider of proprietary and third-party chemical solutions for the industrial water treatment and oil & gas industries throughout North America. The company is committed to meeting unmet market needs through its expertise in application know-how, robust portfolio of custom formulations, blends and resale products and proven supply chain capabilities. For more information, visit www.wstenergy.com.
ABOUT ITALMATCH GROUP Founded in 1997, Italmatch Chemicals, is a leading innovative chemical group, specialized in performance additives for water treatment, oil & gas, lubricants and plastics, and boasts a wide product range able to fulfil the requirements of the most demanding applications, including personal care. The group generates approximately 600 million Euros in sales revenue and operates through seven manufacturing plants in Europe (Italy, Spain, Germany and UK), five in Asia Pacific (China, Japan and India), five in North America (USA) and sales/distribution subsidiaries in Brazil, Belgium, China, Japan, India, Poland, Singapore and the USA. It employs over 900 workers. Bain Capital Private Equity, a leading global private investment firm, recently acquired the majority of Italmatch Chemicals together with the management in October 2018. www.italmatch.com
ABOUT GRACE MATTHEWS INC. Grace Matthews, Inc., a Milwaukee-based investment bank, provides merger, acquisition and corporate finance advisory services to private and public companies across the chemical and materials value chain. Grace Matthews is known globally for completing successful chemical industry transactions dating back to the early 1990s. Grace Matthews’ principals have completed over 150 transactions involving global corporations such as AkzoNobel, 3M, DuPont, Sherwin-Williams, PPG Industries, Ashland, ICI, Air Products, Landec Corporation, The Home Depot, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Becker Industrial Coatings, RPM International, Weatherford, BASF, Lubrizol, WR Grace, Axalta, Eastman, and Hempel. For more detailed information on Grace Matthews, visit www.gracematthews.com.