Ashland Acquires Schülke & Mayr’s Personal Care Business

Ashland Global Holdings Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the personal care business from Schülke & Mayr GmbH, a portfolio company of the global investment organization EQT.
 
Under the terms of the agreement, Ashland will pay €262.5 million, approximately $318 million, in an all-cash transaction, which is expected to be completed before the end of the June quarter subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals. 
 
According to Ashland, the acquisition is consistent with its strategic positioning as a premier specialty additives supplier and strengthens the company’s consumer business portfolio.  
 
“This is an excellent example of the type of bolt-on acquisition opportunities that will help advance our strategy and support the profitable growth of our core businesses,” said Guillermo Novo, chairman and chief executive officer, Ashland. “I am excited about having the Schülke & Mayr personal care employees join Ashland to help us broaden our breadth of specialty additives solutions and expand our biotechnology and microbiology technical capabilities.” 
 
The move also advances Ashland’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda for personal care and household applications. 
 
“As we continue our transformation, we’re focused on innovations and differentiated offerings that will deliver value to our customers. This acquisition further aligns our portfolio with the ‘clean beauty’ trend in the personal care industry and helps us solve for a new generation of consumers who are shifting to products with milder and safer ingredients. Our combined biotechnology competencies further strengthen our ability to create new sustainable solutions in broader fields of application,” Novo said. 
 
Founded in 1889 in Hamburg, Schülke & Mayr GmbH develops, produces and distributes antiseptics for wound care, disinfectants and medical and cosmetic skin care products and preservatives.

Arne Roettger, Schulke’s director personal care business, commented: “We are thrilled and excited that we found the right harbor for our Personal Care activities. Together with Ashland we will make further progress in our ambition to serve our customers with the best and innovative solutions. The leadership team is fully convinced that this step offers our customers and us tremendous opportunities.” 

With this transaction, schülke completes its strategic repositioning to a pureplay healthcare company, and will focus on its core business in infection prevention and hygiene solutions. 

“Schülke is a pioneer and leader in the field of infection prevention and hygiene solutions for over 130 years. 2020 was an extremely important year for schülke as a critical company in the immense fight against the pandemic. It clearly demonstrated one thing: Our strength lies in serving our customers in the healthcare business segments. Our mission to protect lives worldwide will now become true in everything we do,” said Christian Last, CEO of Schülke.
 
EQT acquired Schülke & Mayr GmbH from Air Liquide in April 2020.