Private equity firm New Mountain Capital is taking chemicals company Zep Inc. (NYSE: ZEP) private in a $692 million deal.
Atlanta-based Zep makes packaged chemicals that aim to clean, maintain and protect products. The company’s brands include Zep, Zep Commercial, Zep Professional, Zep Automotive, Enforcer, Misty, TimeMist, TimeWick, Country Vet, Original Bike Spirits, Blue Coral, Black Magic, Rain-X, Niagara National, FC Forward Chemicals, Rexodan and Mykal.
The purchase price works out to $20.05 per share. Zep's shares closed at $17.09 on April 7 before the deal was announced. The target has made acquisitions of its own, including Ecolab Vehicle Care in 2012.
New Mountain, headquartered in New York, is a private equity firm with more than $15 billion in capital commitments. The firm bought Diversified Foodservice Supply Inc. from KRG Capital Partners in February, after closing a fund with $4.13 billion in capital in October.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised Zep on the deal, while King & Spalding LLP and Hunton & Williams LLP provided legal advice. Jefferies LLC and KeyBanc Capital Markets were New Mountain's financial advisers, and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP was legal counsel. Affiliates of Jefferies LLC and KeyBanc Capital Markets are expected to provide debt financing for the deal.