RadiciGroup, chemicals and polymers in US hands

Another hallmark of the group is its capacity for innovation, quality and dedication to clients, all qualities for which Lone Star's CEO, Donald Quintin, had already described the group as 'highly synergistic with the fund's portfolio whose objective remains to strengthen its competitive positioning, promote operational excellence and unlock new growth opportunities for the company'.

As far as the workforce is concerned, the 800 employees of the Polymers Area, which brings in a turnover of half a billion euros, and the 500 employees of the Chemicals Area (a sector that brings in revenues of EUR 300 million) should pass to the fund, while the current shareholders of the Radici family will retain control of the Advanced Textile Solutions Business Area, which has 1,300 employees and a turnover of just under EUR 300 million.

The Radici family did not comment on the transaction yesterday; what is certain is that the work that has been carried out since the group's foundation until today cannot be taken for granted.

The company has been moving steadily in the 1 to 1.5 billion turnover range and according to the latest figures available on the official website in 2022, the best year ever for turnover, operating profit reached EUR 80 million and EBITDA EUR 157 million. Divesting was a painful decision but there is the certainty that the agreement with Lone Star marks the beginning of a new chapter in the global expansion of the chemical and polymer areas.

Strategic resources and global presence are to ensure the survival and expansion of this Italian-born giant.More than a year after the announcement of Lone Star's agreement to acquire RadiciGroup's Specialty Chemicals and High Performance Polymers business areas, the transfer of ownership of the Bergamo-based chemicals giant to the American fund was formally closed yesterday. This was reported by sources very close to the dossier, which yesterday finally saw the signatures of the two parties filed.

The closing of the deal - which in February 2025 was estimated at around EUR 1 billion - took longer than expected, but little in substance changed. Asked specifically about the value of the deal, the sources said they were not yet authorised to disclose, but reiterated that the content of the dossier had not changed.

The vehicle company of the transaction therefore remains Lone Star Fund XII and the Radici family, as already mentioned, will retain three realities of its financial-industrial network: the mechano-textile branch of Itema, sustainable energy production with Geogreen and the Excelsior San Marco hotel in Bergamo. Moreover, at the very beginning of the year, Raditex was born from Radici Partecipazioni (one of the assets involved in the acquisition), a new company where the family's textile assets have been merged and where the brothers Angelo and Maurizio Radici and Lara Imberti, wife of the third brother, who passed away last year, are included.

What, however, does the new American ownership bring home from the industrial reorganisation? First and foremost, a group with solid industrial experience behind it (the foundation dates back to 1941, ed.) that can count on a workforce of over 3,000 employees and that now has plants in every part of the world from Asia, in China, to Brazil, the United States and Mexico. Radici also has a solid position in Europe, in Germany, with heavy chemicals in Zeitz, polymers and plastics in Lunemburg and textile fibres in Selbitz. Turning to Italia, in the province of Bergamo, on the chemical front the plants are those at Villa d'Ogna and Casnigo, which produce polyamide from caprolactam. But the largest plant is located in Novara, in the industrial area where over 350,000 square metres are expanded and polyamide 66 is produced.

In short, the Texas fund is taking over a jewel built over time that can now rightly be called a global leader in the polyamide (nylon) value chain, particularly in the automotive, industrial, electrical and electronics, and consumer goods sectors.

Another hallmark of the group is its capacity for innovation, quality and dedication to clients, all qualities for which Lone Star's CEO, Donald Quintin, had already described the group as 'highly synergistic with the fund's portfolio whose objective remains to strengthen its competitive positioning, promote operational excellence and unlock new growth opportunities for the company'.

As far as the workforce is concerned, the 800 employees of the Polymers Area, which brings in a turnover of half a billion euros, and the 500 employees of the Chemicals Area (a sector that brings in revenues of 300 million euros) should pass to the fund, while the current shareholders of the Radici family will retain control of the Advanced Textile Solutions Business Area, which has 1,300 employees and a turnover of just under 300 million.

The Radici family did not comment on the transaction yesterday; what is certain is that the work that has been carried out since the group's foundation until today cannot be taken for granted.

The company has been moving steadily in the 1 to 1.5 billion turnover range and according to the latest figures available on the official website in 2022, the best year ever for turnover, operating profit reached EUR 80 million and EBITDA EUR 157 million. Divesting was a painful decision but there is the certainty that the agreement with Lone Star marks the beginning of a new chapter in the global expansion of the chemical and polymer areas.

Strategic resources and global presence are to ensure the survival and expansion of this Italian-born giant.