Personal care ingredient maker Vertellus acquired by private equity firm

13-Jan-2021 - Last updated on 13-Jan-2021 at 17:05 GMT

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This week, Chicago, Illinois – based Pritzker Private Capital announced closing the deal with multinational specialty chemical company Vertellus.

“Over our 150+ year history, Vertellus has built a culture committed to delivering industry-leading, high-quality products and services to our customers across the end markets we serve,” John Van Hulle, President and CEO of Vertellus, tells the press this week.

“Our partnership with Pritzker Private Capital,” he says “will help us build upon Vertellus’ leading standard of quality, service and safety as we advance our growth strategy. PPC is the ideal partner for our exciting next chapter.”

Van Hulle joined Vertellus in October 2018; and a company media release circulated at the time foreshadowed this week's acquisition, highlighting his leadership track record with specialty chemical companies, his experience negotiating deals backed by private equity, and calling attention to his “history of driving sustained profitable growth through a focus on commercial and manufacturing excellence,” as well as the fact that he “he has completed multiple acquisitions globally.”

Pritzker Private Capital acquires Vertellus alongside upper management

John Van Hulle, President and CEO of Vertellus, and some of his colleagues on the company’s management team are investing in the business alongside Pritzker Private Capital. And they will stay on in leadership roles as the company moves forward.

“We are pleased to partner with John and the talented Vertellus team to continue providing best-in-class products and support to its customers,” Thomas Chadwick, Principal at Pritzker Private Capital, says in this week’s press release about the acquisition.

Vertellus serves multiple industries as a specialty chemical maker, including personal care and fragrance, healthcare, coatings, infrastructure, agriculture, metal working, and the industrial market.

“Vertellus is a leading specialty chemicals manufacturer with strong growth prospects and a compelling market opportunity,” says Chadwick, touching upon what encouraged the investment firm to acquire Veretellus.

“The Company,” he adds, “plays an important role in the development and production of in-demand consumer and industrial products, and we look forward to supporting Vertellus on its continued expansion and innovation excellence.”

Where industry and investment meet on this deal

Many of the ingredients Vertellus makes for personal care industry have applications in various categories like fragrance, lip care, and beauty in general, as well as in other industry sectors like health, home care, and flavors.

These ingredients include, a few varieties of castorwax (hydrogenated castor oil), hexadecane, methyl benzoate, zinc acetate, and many other which can be seen here.

While as a firm, Pritzker Private Capital specializes in middle-market companies in manufactured products, services, and health care. Currently there are 11 companies in the PPC portfolio. Aside from Vertellus the firm is invested in C H Gunther & Son, Energy Distribution Partners, PathGroup, Paskolite, and PrAmpac, for instance. (Learn more about PPC portfolio companies here.)

And PPC describes its business on LinkedIn, saying that the firm “builds businesses for the long term and is an ideal partner for entrepreneur and family owned companies.”