Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Completes Acquisition of VWR International for $1.65 Billion

VWR International will continue to distribute Merck laboratory products

08-Apr-2004

New York. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Inc. (CD&R), a leading global private equity firm, announced that an investment fund managed by CD&R had completed the purchase of VWR International from Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany for $1.65 billion.

VWR International, based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is a leading distributor in North America and Europe of scientific supplies to the industrial, pharmaceutical, educational and government markets. VWR International has 5,880 employees worldwide and 2003 revenues of approximately $2.8 billion, of which approximately two thirds are from North America and the remainder from Europe. Sales in 2003 under U.S. GAAP increased approximately 6% over 2002.

The transaction is one of a series of announcements from CD&R in recent months, including the sale of its Jafra cosmetics division to Vorwerk & Co. KG and the sale of Kinko's to FedEx for $2.4 billion.

"VWR International is an excellent business and the transaction is precisely the kind for which we are well known -- a large divestiture of a captive distributor from a major multinational corporation," said Donald J. Gogel, Chief Executive Officer of CD&R. "We believe our operationally focused investment model is particularly well suited in situations where the parent organization has a strong interest in seeing the unit being divested grow and prosper as an independent company."

VWR International will continue to distribute Merck laboratory products.

"VWR International has an extensive network of distribution centers in the U.S., long-standing relationships with the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, and the industry's strongest footprint in Europe," said Richard J. Schnall, a CD&R partner involved in the transaction. "We have successfully invested in distribution businesses and will utilize that prior experience as we work closely with the management team to accelerate VWR International's growth."

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