3i, Europe's leading private equity company, today announces that it has supported the management of Panreac Quimica S.A., a leading Spanish manufacturer and supplier of quality chemicals for laboratory research and production, in a €48.5m buyout.

Mark Heappey, 3i MD Spain, commented on the investment rational: "Panreac is run by a top class management team, led by Joan Roget, who has been an impressive driver of growth and profitability over the last few years. Given the market opportunities internationally, we are delighted to work with Joan and the rest of his team in realising their vision."

3i''s investment will enable the company to maintain its market leading brand in analytical reagents in Spain, continue to grow organically through product diversification, and put in place plans for international expansion; particularly in Germany, France and Italy. 

Panreac, based in Barcelona, is a leader in the manufacture of reagents for analysis and pure chemical agents. The products, including ACS reagents, high purity solvents for HPLC, fine chemicals, food chemicals, culture media for microbiology, products for histology are mainly applied in the Pharma industry (23%), hospitals and universities (36%), food industry (17%), chemical industry (16%) and various other

industries (8%). A family-owned business since its inception in 1945, the company has gone from strength to strength, now enjoying a 35% market share of the niche chemical sector in Spain and a turnover of €30m. In 1998, Alexander Esteban, the son of the company''s founder, invited private equity company Bridgepoint to invest in the company.