Dutch Fund Gilde Acquires Novasep

Paris, December 7, 2006 ... White & Case acted for the Dutch fund Gilde Buy Out Partners (Gilde) on its acquisition of French company Groupe Novasep, a leading provider of synthesis and purification solutions to the life science industries, for an enterprise value of €425 million.

The completion of the acquisition, which is still subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities, is expected to take place before the end of this year. Groupe Novasep, which is currently 78.6 percent owned by Rockwood Holding Inc., a global producer of specialty chemicals and advanced materials, and 21.4 percent owned by its management, will be controlled by an investor group led by Gilde and including Banexi Capital Partenaires, and by its management, who will hold approximately 28 percent of the equity in the firm.

Groupe Novasep merged with Dynamic Synthesis, a custom chemicals producer, at the end of 2004. Dynamic Synthesis had been acquired by Rockwood from Dynamit Nobel earlier that year. Groupe Novasep, with 1,300 employees at nine production sites worldwide, had a turnover of €280 million in 2005.

The White & Case team acting for Gilde was led by partner François Leloup, working closely with associates Nathalie Nègre and Guilain Hippolyte. It also included partner Raphaël Richard and associate Samir Berlat, advising on the finance aspects of the transaction, and partner Jean-Patrice de La Laurencie and associates Charles-Henri Calla and Jeremy de Douhet, providing counsel on competition issues.

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