About the deal

Ssp has been sold to Smithers (US). Ssp is a highly respected and well-known service provider with a global network and an abundance of experience in solid fuels, metals, and minerals with offices in the Netherlands and Italy. Ssp services include, but are not limited to, loading and discharge supervision, weight / tallying control, sampling, sample preparation and laboratory testing and trade verification.

Smithers is a multinational provider of testing, consulting, information, and compliance services. With laboratories and operations in North America, Europe, and Asia, Smithers supports customers in the transportation, life science, packaging, materials, components, consumer, and energy industries. The company has over 900 employees and ~15 facilities globally.

This acquisition enables Smithers to enter the commodities testing, analysis, inspection, and supervision market and further expand within Continental Europe.

Dennis van der Burgh (Managing Director, Ssp): “we are excited about this new chapter for Ssp. As a Smithers company, we will be able to maintain our ability to service clients in the flexible manner with quick turnaround times and 24/7 availability. He adds, “Ssp has built a strong client base in Europe and we hope this acquisition can facilitate the expansion of our geographic footprint into North America and Asia Pacific regions.”

Michael Hochschwender (Chief Executive Officer, Smithers), “Ssp is an exciting addition to Smithers because we share a steadfast commitment to a client-first culture. We believe the Ssp culture of building trusted relationships is consistent with Smithers goal of helping our clients bring great products to market by delivering accurate data, on time, with high touch.”

What we did

Capitalmind Investec advised the shareholders of SSP throughout the sell-side process, with:

• Drafting marketing materials;
• Approaching market;
• Price negotiations;
• Managing due diligence;
• Coordinating legal documentation phase.