Univar Solutions has agreed to sell its Environmental Sciences business to US private investment group AEA Investors for $195 million.

Commenting on the move, David Jukes, president and CEO of Univar Solutions, said: “Environmental Sciences is already well established as an industry leader in pest management, and we are confident that AEA has the right resources and vision to position the business for long term sustainable growth.

“We will continue our intense focus on growing the value of our core chemical distribution and ingredient business, and capturing the maximum value from the integration of the legacy Univar and Nexeo Solutions,” Jukes said.

Univar agreed to buy rival distribution group Nexeo Solutions in September 2018 for around $2 billion in a deal that combined the world’s second and fifth largest chemical distributors. In February this year, Univar decided to offload Nexeo Plastics to an affiliate of One Rock Capital Partners.

Trace McEuen, vice president of Environmental Sciences, who will continue to lead the business under AEA's ownership, added: “As a standalone company, with the focused ownership and committed resources of AEA, we expect to be even better positioned to serve our customers and partner with suppliers as we drive growth and build on the momentum we have already created at Univar Solutions.”

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, the Environmental Sciences division is a premier pest management business serving the US, Canada and Mexico, as well as markets in Latin America and the Caribbean.

AEA expects to announce a new name and brand identity upon close of the transaction, which is expected by the end of 2019 or early 2020, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

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