Arrowpoint Advisory advises the shareholders of M&I Materials on the carve-out and divestment of its MIDEL® and MIVOLT® business lines to Shell

Arrowpoint Advisory’s Industrials sector team has advised Manchester-based M&I Materials on the agreed carve-out and sale of two of its product lines, MIDEL^® and MIVOLT^® to Shell U.K. Limited. M&I Materials Development Ltd will subsequently be fully owned and operated by Shell. M&I Materials Ltd will continue to operate its other business lines.

M&I Materials is dedicated to manufacturing Specialist Materials for Industry and Science and is the driving force behind a portfolio of successful brands Apiezon^®, Metrosil^®, Performance Biolubricants and Wolfmet^®. The company is internationally focused with customers throughout Europe, North and South America, Australasia and South Africa. The company operates through direct sales staff, and a worldwide network of agents and distributors, backed by a multilingual technical sales team based at its headquarters at Trafford Park, Manchester, UK.

Boosting Shell’s global lubricants portfolio, the acquisition of MIDEL’s premium product range will enable Shell to complement its differentiated position in Transformer Oils used for power distribution, offshore wind parks, utility companies and traction power systems. By adding synthetic and natural ester-based transformer fluids and services to its portfolio, Shell Lubricants aims deliver improved fire protection and biodegradability to its customers.

Meanwhile, MIVOLT’s ester-based immersion cooling fluids will support the development of thermally efficient electric vehicle batteries, battery energy storage systems and data centres.

This is the Arrowpoint Advisory's Industrials team’s fourth carve-out transaction in the last 24 months, building further on the team’s accumulated experience and expertise in successfully delivering complex transactions.

Colin Salt, Chairman at M&I Materials, commented: “Ester fluid manufacturing has been a huge part of M&I Materials for over 45 years and a source of pride for everyone involved in developing this technology which customers in many markets worldwide have come to specify and trust. We want to see the growth potential for both MIDEL^® and MIVOLT^® realised and we believe Shell is uniquely positioned to take them forward and on to their next stage of development.”

Giles Salt, CEO at M&I Materials, said: “This an exciting opportunity for the MIDEL^® and MIVOLT^® businesses as well as for M&I Materials. Arrowpoint Advisory have been lead advisors and they have been excellent throughout. Their expertise and dedication have been invaluable to deliver what has been a complex transaction.”

Tom Smith, Director at Arrowpoint Advisory, highlighted: “We are delighted to have advised the M&I Materials team on a transaction that recognises the culmination of many years’ of hard work for the shareholders and management. MIDEL^® and MIVOLT^® are two differentiated product lines in a market sub-sector with extremely exciting growth potential as part of the ongoing energy transition trend. It was a pleasure to work with Colin, Giles and the rest of the team and we are pleased that we have helped find an acquirer as well placed as Shell to take the business forward from this point.”

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