Private equity giant Apollo has agreed to acquire the majority of Univar Solutions in an all-cash deal that values the company at about $8.1 billion. There is also an unspecified minority investment from a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Shareholders will receive $36.15/share in cash, which represents a 20.6% premium to the company's undisturbed closing stock price on 22 November 2022 or 33.6% on the volume-weighted average for the 30 trading days ending on that date.

Engine Capital, an investment firm with a 1% stake in Brenntag, has become the second to advise the company to separate out its two businesses. PrimeStone, which owns 2%, had urged similar action in December, when Brenntag itself was in discussions with Univar Solutions about a possible merger.

Univar Solutions has acquired two regional distributors of speciality chemicals in quick succession, the ChemSol Group in Latin America coming shortly after Kale Kimya in Turkey. In both cases, terms were not disclosed and completion is expected within Q1. Univar said that the buys will enhance both its regional footprint and its formulation and commercial offering in key growth markets.

Univar Solutions has confirmed that Brenntag has ended discussions with it about a potential merger. The company said that it is “committed to acting in the best interest of its stockholders and will continue discussions relating to other indications of interest that have been received with respect to a potential transaction”.

Brenntag originally opened discussions with Univar in November. The deal would have brought together the world’s largest and second largest chemical distributors. Brenntag and Univar had sales of €14.4 billion and $9.5 billion respectively in 2021.