Paragon acquires Anti-Germ and Medentech businesses from ICL

With almost two centuries of experience in hygiene and disinfection services for professional outlets, Anti-Germ provides high quality products, technologies and services for the agriculture, as well as the food and beverage processing industries. Anti-Germ also serves institutional sectors, including kitchen and catering (HORECA), hospital and health care, building care and specialty cleaning. The company is headquartered in Memmingen, Germany, and maintains additional sites in eight other countries.

Medentech is based in Wexford, Ireland, and develops, manufactures and markets products for water purification, as well as for disease and infection control. Medentech’s Aquatabs© are the world’s leading water purification tablets, trusted by millions of people every day. Aquatabs are used by all major international aid agencies and peacekeeping forces. Approximately a billion Aquatabs are used globally on an annual basis.

The senior management teams of Anti-Germ and Medentech will invest alongside Paragon as shareholders. The Group will be headed by Matthias Kötter, who will act as the Group’s CEO, and Oliver Fausten who will serve as its CFO.

Commenting on the sale, Mr. Kötter stated, “Anti-Germ has built its expertise for hygiene solutions over many decades and it is dedicated to its customers and experienced and valued employees. We are delighted that Paragon has decided to acquire Anti-Germ and support our growth plan for the company.”

Edin Hadzic, managing partner at Paragon added, “We are very excited about the growth prospects for Anti-Germ, and we are ready to provide additional capital should interesting opportunities emerge.”

Eli Glazer, President of ICL Performance Products Europe and Asia Pacific, commented, “ICL intends to use the proceeds from the sale of its Anti-Germ and Medentech units to strengthen its core businesses, pursue operational excellence, build out ICL’s distinctive mineral assets and technologies, and expand its global presence, especially in emerging markets. We trust that Paragon will support the continued growth of Anti-Germ and Medentech in the future, and we wish them as well as their management and employees, much success in the future.”

About Anti-Germ
Fuelled by almost two centuries of experience in hygiene for professional outlets, Anti-Germ provides market leading systems of products, technologies and services for the food value chain. Anti-Germ is headquartered in Memmingen, Germany with additional production sites in Vaas (France) und Neumarkt (Austria) as well as subsidiaries in six further countries. For further information, visit the company’s website www.anti-germ.com.

About ICL
ICL is a global manufacturer of products based on specialty minerals in three markets: agriculture, food and engineered materials. ICL is a public company whose shares are dual listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The company employs approximately 12,000 people worldwide, and its sales in 2014 totaled US$ 6.1 billion. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.icl-group.com.

About Paragon
Paragon is one of the leading independent private equity firms in Europe with approx. €650 million of equity under management. Paragon works closely with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth and operational excellence. The investment portfolio covers various industries and currently comprises 7 companies. Paragon was founded in 2004 and is based in Munich, Germany. For further information please refer to www.paragon.de.