Stratford-upon-Avon, 14th December 2020 – GIL Investments Limited (“GIL”) announced today that it has completed the sale of its investee company Iconichem Group Limited (“ICoNiChem”) to the ultimate shareholders of Eti Bakir A.S. (“Eti Bakir”).
GIL invested in ICoNiChem in 2016. ICoNiChem manufactures a range of inorganic cobalt and nickel chemicals at its UK manufacturing facility and supplies its products to customers around the world operating in a range of industries. Under GIL’s stewardship the business continued to make significant improvements to its processing capabilities and finished product characteristics to meet evolving customer requirements.
Eti Bakir is one of Turkey’s largest mining companies with its activities including a significant cobalt mining operation. The combination of the two companies will allow Eti Bakir to both mine and now process its cobalt for sale to end customers.
Trevor Middleton, Director, GIL Investments, said
“We are delighted to be able to announce the sale of ICoNiChem to Eti Bakir. I’ve enjoyed working with the management team of this business, led by Andrew Garner, over the last five years and I am confident that the acquisition by Eti Bakir represents a good strategic fit which will allow ICoNiChem to take advantage of the significant growth opportunities in its marketplace.”
Emre Kayisoglu, General Manager, Eti Bakir, said
“We are very pleased to have completed the acquisition of ICoNiChem. Demand for cobalt based chemicals is forecast to grow substantially in the coming years and the combination of our mining activities and ICoNiChem’s cobalt processing operation will make us very well placed to take advantage of the increasing demand in this sector for high quality products.”
GIL was advised on the transaction by Gateley PLC (legal advice).
Eti Bakir was advised on the transaction by Ernst & Young, Turkey (financial due diligence), CIFTCI, Turkey (legal advice) and Shoosmiths LLP, UK (legal advice).
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
