Italy's NEXTCHEM completes €148 million acquisition of Ballestra

en.Wedoany.com Reported - NEXTCHEM has completed the €148.2 million acquisition of Ballestra, with the transaction formally closed on June 25, thereby filling a gap in its full-spectrum nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer technology portfolio. The MAIRE subsidiary stated that the final price exceeded the approximately €126.5 million estimated when the agreement was signed on December 24 last year, with the difference attributed to Ballestra's adjusted net cash position, setting the enterprise value at €108.2 million.

Through this acquisition, NEXTCHEM has taken over Milan-based Ballestra and its Mazzoni brand, Switzerland's Buss ChemTech, and India's Ballestra Engineering and Projects, integrating approximately 460 process engineers. Founded in 1960, Ballestra operates in over 120 countries and had an order backlog of approximately €270 million as of the end of March.

For fertilizer producers, this deal expands NEXTCHEM's licensing scope for phosphorus-based and potassium-based process technologies, complementing its established nitrogen fertilizer and urea technologies acquired from Stamicarbon. NEXTCHEM noted that this also creates cross-selling opportunities for MAIRE's engineering and construction division, Tecnimont, in new plant construction and retrofit projects.

This move intensifies competition among fertilizer technology licensors such as Casale, thyssenkrupp Uhde, and Haldor Topsoe, as producers weigh plant upgrades against high input costs.