PolyOne Corp. has purchased the Magenta Master Fibers business of BASF SE for $22 million.
Magenta makes specialty color concentrates for the global fiber industry at plants in Milan, Italy; and Shanghai. The business has annual sales of $16 million, with 65 percent of that total coming from outside of North America.
The sale price represents a multiple of 6.8 times Magenta's EBITDA. Officials with Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne said in a Dec. 9 news release. In the release, PolyOne President and CEO Robert Patterson said the Magenta deal is “another excellent strategic acquisition that will further accelerate our specialty strategy as we pursue our 2020 Platinum Vision.”
Magenta produces masterbatch concentrates based on nylon and polyester for mass dyeing of synthetic fibers. Markets for its materials include clothing and apparel, outdoor equipment and multiple materials used in the transportation industry.
In their own Dec. 9 news release, officials with BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany, said that the firm will concentrate on its customized color masterbatch business and that the Magenta unit “is not part of BASF's future focus.”
Magenta now will be part of PolyOne's Global Color, Additives & Inks unit. The Magenta acquisition is PolyOne's first deal since acquiring some of the assets of liquid polymer formulator Accella Performance Materials for $49 million in late 2014.
PolyOne ranks as North America's largest compounder and concentrate maker. The firm posted sales of $3.8 billion in 2014.