Gemspring Buys Legacy Chemicals Business From Goodyear for $650M
Plus: We outline portco M&A and exits from last week.
Rubber to the road.
Gemspring Capital, a private equity firm based in Westport, Connecticut, bought Goodyear Chemical, a producer of synthetic rubber and performance chemicals for approximately $650 million. The assets included in the transaction are Goodyear Chemical's facilities in Houston and Beaumont, Texas, and a research office in Akron, Ohio — not included, though, are Goodyear’s facilities in Niagara Falls, New York, and Bayport, Texas, along with rights to the products produced there.
The sale is part of Goodyear's "Goodyear Forward" transformation plan, aiming to streamline operations and reduce leverage, and is expected to close in late 2025, subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.
Back to the lab.
This isn’t Gemspring’s first chemical play — the firm invested in Shrieve Chemical Company in December 2019 for an undisclosed amount. The firm still holds the asset today, having closed a single-asset continuation vehicle for the business in October 2024.
Gemspring has made numerous changes at Shrieve post-acquisition, including:
Expanding product slate and product management capabilities.
Enhancing salesforce and increased geographic and end-market diversity.
Completing six strategic add-on acquisitions (including Chem One, Gilbert & Jones, and TLC Ingredients).
The growth strategies Gemspring employed at Shrieve Chemical — expanding products, salesforce, markets, and add-ons — could plausibly be transferred to Goodyear Chemical. However, Goodyear Chemical's scale and product complexity could add layers of challenge. Goodyear’s chemical business generated approximately $504 million in revenue in 2024, about 3 percent of the company's total $18.9 billion revenue, with a product portfolio spanning synthetic rubber and performance chemicals, critical (and highly specialized) components in tire manufacturing, and other industrial applications.
And most glaringly, replicating international expansion and M&A growth strategies is notoriously difficult right now with global trade tensions mounting and interest rates resting at an all-time high.
Gemspring did not respond to request for comment.
PE portcos also saw some full and partial exits last week, as well as some exits-to-be:
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners sold Seven Seas Water Group, a provider of water and wastewater treatment solutions operating over 220 plants across the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America, to EQT at a valuation of over $1 billion, including debt. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners acquired Seven Seas in 2017 for $500 million.
Sagard MidCap entered into exclusive negotiations to sell Nutrisens, a French clinical nutrition specialist the firm has owned since 2018, to Cinven. Financial details were not disclosed.
Tikehau Capital announced the acquisition of EYSA, a Spanish provider of smart mobility solutions for urban and interurban areas, from HIG Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed. H.I.G. acquired EYSA in early 2022.
CVC agreed to sell its 60 percent stake in Genetic Group, an Italian pharmaceutical manufacturer the firm has held a stake in since 2020, to a buyer consortium. The deal values Genetic at approximately €680 million ($770 million).
LKCM Headwater sold a portion of its stake in RollKall, a provider of off-duty management software for public safety agencies, to Vista Equity Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, portco M&A was in full swing:
Resonetics, a medical device contract manufacturer owned by The Carlyle Group and GTCR, acquired the nitinol gun drilling operations and related assets of Medical Component Specialists for an unknown sum. The two PE shops acquired significant interests in the company in 2021, valuing it at approximately $2.25 billion.
Kenan Advantage Group (KAG) Canada, North America's largest tank-truck carrier, bought Fisher Transport, a Nova Scotia-based milk hauler, for an undisclosed amount. KAG has been a portfolio company of OMERS Private Equity since 2015.
Astorg’s IQ-EQ, a global investor services firm, acquired South Watch, a U.S.-based boutique fund administration services provider owned by Everlane Equity Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Thoma Bravo-backed Nearmap, a provider of property intelligence solutions, agreed to acquire itel, an insurance technology company, from GTCR. The deal is valued at over $1.3 billion, including debt. GTCR acquired itel in 2021.
Bain Capital launched HScale, a new hyperscale data center platform, alongside its existing portfolio company AQ Compute. HScale aims to deliver nearly 7 GW of data center capacity across EMEA and APAC markets.
BetaNXT, a wealth management technology firm backed by Clearlake Capital and Motive Partners, bought Delta Data, an investment fund solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
And there were some key people moves:
Investcorp Corsair Infrastructure Partners appointed Stephen K. Benjamin as an operating partner for local communities, a newly created role to bolster public-private partnerships and deepen engagement with local governments. Benjamin most recently served as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement under President Biden and was previously the Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina.
See you next week!