International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG) and Casella have reached an agreement in principle under which ICIG would acquire all of the shares of specialty chemicals manufacturer Allessa. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction is still subject to anti-trust approval by the respective authorities.

Allessa is a manufacturer of fine chemicals intermediates and specialty chemicals, headquartered in Frankfurt with production sites in Frankfurt's vicinity Fechenheim, Griesheim and Höchst. The WeylChem Group, ICIG's non-GMP fine chemicals platform, operates its plants in Griesheim and Höchst as well, which also used to belong to the former Hoechst AG conglomerate, and any future cooperation between Allessa and WeylChem , under one ownership, would result in additional synergies.

"It should grow together what belongs together" says Casella Managing Director and Supervisory Board Chairman of Allessa Karl-Gerhard Seifert. "With the dissolution of the Hoechst conglomerate in the Rhein-Main region around Frankfurt, many of the synergies between the different sites have been destroyed and it is time now to enable them again".

"With combined sales in excess of €500 million the WeylChem/Allessa Group would belong to the largest and most competitive fine chemicals and custom manufacturing operations worldwide" says ICIG Managing Director Achim Riemann.

"We welcome Allessa's employees and we are excited that, with this transaction, ICIG's combined sales would exceed €1 billion for the first time in 2014" adds ICIG Managing Director Patrick Schnitzer.