The international law firm Clifford Chance advised Azelis S.A. and its shareholder, the international private equity company 3i, on the acquisition of the S&D Group Limited, London. The transaction will take place subject to the approval of antitrust authorities.

Azelis, one of the leading European distributors of specialty chemicals, was taken over by 3i in February 2007. The company operates in 26 European countries as well as in Shanghai and Mumbai.

S&D Group has approximately 400 employees worldwide and is active in the two business areas of Life Sciences (cosmetics, nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals) and Performance Chemicals (industrial use).

The S&D Companies S&D Pharma, Chemgo, S&D Chesham GmbH and ProTec Ingredia are not included in the transaction. These companies will remain in their current ownership structure

The Clifford Chance team led by partner Dr. Kerstin Kopp consisted of associates Till Prömmel, Dr. Sebastian Pauls (all Private Equity, Frankfurt) and David d’Souza (Corporate, London), partner Marc Besen and associate Dr. Achim Gronemeyer (both Antitrust, Düsseldorf) as well as partner Dr. Bettina Steinhauer and associate Justus Keiluweit (both Banking & Capital Markets, Frankfurt).

Clifford Chance has advised 3i for years on numerous transactions, in particular on the sale of MWM Holding (2010), on the purchase of the Azelis Group (2007) and on the purchase of Euro-Druckservice AG (2007).