Aterian combines U.S. Zinc with EverZinc to form world’s largest zinc specialty chemical company
Houston, TX – Aterian Investment Partners (“Aterian”) has combined U.S. Zinc and EverZinc, two of the largest global producers of zinc chemical products, to form the pre-eminent global zinc chemistry business.
The combined company will operate under the EverZinc name, and will beheadquartered in Houston, Texas. The company will support high value markets, such as personal care,alkaline, storage and rechargeable batteries, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, agriculture, feed,paints and coatings, and rubber and serve its customers from 14 facilities located throughout NorthAmerica, Europe and Asia.U.S. Zinc is a United States leader in zinc oxide, fine zinc powder and zinc metal. The business isdifferentiated through over 70 years of innovation, strong material science know-how and quality in themarketplace. U.S. Zinc services the domestic market with an expansive capacity and manufacturingfootprint throughout its four facilities in Texas and Tennessee.
EverZinc, through its 185-year heritage, is a global zinc technology leader in specialty zinc materials,including fine zinc powders, zinc oxides, battery zinc powders and Zano®, an ultra-fine zinc oxide.EverZinc services its customers through 10 production sites located in Belgium, Canada, China, theNetherlands, Norway and Malaysia.
Aterian, an operationally-focused middle market private investment firm targeting industry leadingbusinesses, acquired U.S. Zinc in 2018.
“We’re excited to partner with Aterian and the board to lead this new combined organization forwardinto the future,” said Vincent Dujardin, Chief Executive Officer at EverZinc, who will lead the combinedcompany as President and Chief Executive Officer. “This strategic combination brings together twoindustry pioneers. By combining our comprehensive zinc chemistry platforms, employee base, provenR&D and technology capabilities and specializations, we will further our leadership in catapulting thenew organization years ahead on the technology curve.”
“We built a long-term thesis around zinc chemistry, starting with our platform investment in U.S. Zinc,”said Christopher H. Thomas, Co-Founder and Partner at Aterian. “As one of the most widely availableand sustainable metals in the world, zinc is uniquely recyclable and has applications critical to ourfuture. This investment further expands on our vision as the organization will continue to partner andinnovate with its customers to lead the industry through technological and sustainable alternatives andsolutions.“
Zinc is the fourth most common metal in use in the world and has made considerable inroads as apotential material of choice in nascent markets. These include innovations in personal care, where zincminerals are seen as a better alternative to existing materials in sunscreen and skin care, andrenewables and energy storage, where new battery combinations such as zinc air and nickel zinc arealternatives to existing stationary power storage technologies.
“This combination will strengthen our global footprint, improve sourcing capabilities, diversify ourbusiness and allow our platform to better serve customers on a global scale,” said Joel Hawthorne,President and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Zinc, who will serve as Vice Chairman of the EverZincenterprise and member on the combined company’s board.
“We are eager to continue serving existing applications while cultivating new market streams for our zinc components.”
Zinc is highly recyclable. The new company intends to source a majority of its critical raw materials fromthird party by-product streams, by converting used zinc material already available in the marketplace,thus encouraging greater industry-wide sustainability. Zinc can be recovered without a significant loss inquality, resulting in less need for virgin zinc and the air and water emissions, deforestation, energyconsumption and waste that often results from mining and processing virgin zinc.
“Aterian will continue to support EverZinc through investment in capacity, technology and innovation,”said Joshua Ciampa, Managing Director at Aterian. “Global applications for zinc are reaching a criticalinflection point and we are pleased to be in a position to leverage our European or Asian technology forcapacity in North America, and vice-versa.”
Aterian Investment Partners, U.S. Zinc’s controlling shareholder, will continue to own the combinedcompany.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to U.S. Zinc and Aterian, and Moelis and Company served asU.S. Zinc’s and Aterian’s M&A advisor. Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP served as legal counsel and Jefferiesserved as lead financial advisor and Stifel served as financial advisor to seller.Financial terms were not disclosed.