Vantage Specialty Chemicals
Vantage Specialty Chemicals, Inc. is an American speciality chemicals company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Vantage operates through four business units: Personal Care, Performance Materials, Oleochemicals, and Foods.
Its Personal Care unit provides chemical ingredients for hair, skin, sun care and other cosmetic products. Vantage Performance Materials produces chemicals with applications in oil and gas, food production, lubricants, precision cleaning and other industry specialties. Vantage is one of the largest oleochemical producers in the United States.
Vantage was formed in 2008 when private equity firm H.I.G. Capital acquired Uniqema's operations in the United States from Croda International. Uniqema was a global oleochemical manufacturer which was acquired by Croda from Imperial Chemical Industries in 2006. Under H.I.G.'s ownership, Vantage expanded through a series of acquisitions, including Lambent Technologies in 2008 and Lipo Chemicals in 2010. H.I.G. then sold Vantage to mid-market PE firm The Jordan Company in 2012.
In 2016, Vantage acquired baking products maker Mallet & Co., which became the company's Foods unit.
H.I.G. re-acquired majority ownership in Vantage in 2017 via a leveraged buy-out, with Jordan retaining a minority stake. The transaction is expected to close in October 2017.
