Watson, Farley & Williams (“WFW”), a leading international law firm, is pleased to announce that it has advised global private equity firm The Riverside Company (“Riverside”) on their sale of portfolio company Capol GmbH (“Capol”) to Freudenberg Chemical Specialties.

Riverside, focused on the acquisition of growing businesses valued at up to €200 million, has sold Capol to Freudenberg Chemical Specialties, a business unit of Freudenberg Group in Weinheim. Freudenberg Chemical Specialties is a global market leader in release agents and specialty and high-performance lubricants.

Elmshorn-based Capol develops and manufactures polishing, anti-sticking and release agents used in the confectionary, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Capol’s portfolio consists of more than 250 trademarked products and sells in more than 60 countries.

Riverside invested in Capol in 2009 and, during its ownership, worked with the company’s new management team to complete a significant add-on acquisition in the U.S., improve R&D, streamline production, and enhance sales & marketing in order to facilitate the company’s international growth. After the transaction, Capol will become a new division of Freudenberg Chemical Specialties.

The WFW team was led by partner Dr. Simon Preisenberger (Corporate, WFW Munich). He was supported by partners Dr. Stefan Kilgus (Project & Structured Finance, WFW Hamburg) and Dr. Nikolaus Krienke (Employment, WFW Hamburg) and associates Dr. Silke Pütz, Barbara Zehnder and Simon Vogel (all Corporate, WFW Munich), Dr. Wichard von Hoff (Project & Structured Finance, WFW Hamburg), Dr. Christine Bader (Regulatory, WFW Hamburg), Dr. Andreas Wiegreffe (Employment, WFW Hamburg) and Thomas Meyerhans (Employment, WFW Munich).