Ashland Global Holdings has announced that Ashland has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the personal care business from Schülke & Mayr GmbH, a portfolio company of the global investment organization EQT.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ashland will pay €262.5 million in an all-cash transaction, which is expected to be completed before the end of the June quarter. The transaction will be funded with bank financing and available cash and become immediately accretive to Ashland's earnings per share.

The acquisition is consistent with Ashland’s strategic positioning as a premier specialty additives supplier and strengthens the company’s consumer business portfolio. 

Guillermo Novo, Chairman and CEO, Ashland said, “I am excited about having the Schülke & Mayr personal care employees join Ashland to help us broaden our breadth of specialty additives solutions and expand our biotechnology and microbiology technical capabilities.”

The move also advances Ashland’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda for personal care and household applications.

“As we continue our transformation, we’re focused on innovations and differentiated offerings that will deliver value to our customers. This acquisition further aligns our portfolio with the ‘clean beauty’ trend in the personal care industry and helps us solve for a new generation of consumers who are shifting to products with milder and safer ingredients. Our combined biotechnology competencies further strengthen our ability to create new sustainable solutions in broader fields of application,” added Novo.