WENDEL: Agreement to sell Stahl, the global leader in specialty coatings for flexible materials, to Henkel
MWN-AI** Summary
On February 4, 2026, Wendel announced an agreement to sell its stake in Stahl, a leading global provider of specialty coatings for flexible materials, to Henkel for an enterprise value of €2.1 billion. This transaction is expected to yield Wendel estimated net proceeds of approximately €1.2 billion, resulting in an impressive annualized internal rate of return (IRR) of over 15% since acquiring Stahl in 2006.
Stahl, under Wendel's ownership, has significantly expanded its operations, with global sales tripling from €316 million in 2006 to €930 million by 2024. This growth has been fueled by both organic development and strategic acquisitions, enhancing its position in niche markets for specialty coatings. The company has also established a strong commitment to sustainability, achieving four consecutive Ecovadis Platinum ratings and setting ambitious targets aligned with global sustainability initiatives.
The sale will involve other shareholders, including BASF and Clariant, who will also divest their interests in Stahl. The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Wendel's CEO, Laurent Mignon, emphasized that this divestiture aligns with their long-term capital allocation strategy and marks a successful execution of their roadmap announced in December 2025. It also allows Wendel to execute a share buyback program following the release of its 2025 earnings.
Stahl's CEO, Maarten Heijbroek, expressed gratitude for Wendel's support over the past two decades, highlighting the successful transformation and strengthened market position achieved under their leadership. The acquisition by Henkel is seen as a promising opportunity for Stahl to further enhance its capabilities and market leadership in specialty coatings.
MWN-AI** Analysis
Wendel's recent announcement to sell its stake in Stahl to Henkel represents a significant strategic shift that merits close attention from investors. The transaction, valued at €2.1 billion and anticipated to yield net proceeds of €1.2 billion, underscores the investment firm's robust financial management and its ability to unlock value through carefully planned divestitures. This move reflects Wendel's commitment to enhancing its portfolio returns and capitalizing on the growing demand for specialty coatings, particularly with the integration of sustainable technologies.
Firstly, the sale, which is expected to result in an annualized IRR of over 15% for Wendel since 2006, suggests a successful investment strategy. The fact that the enterprise value comes at a multiple of 6.6 times their initial investment indicates that Wendel has maximally exploited Stahl's potential.
For current investors, this divestiture aligns with Wendel's strategic focus on private asset management and sets the stage for future growth opportunities, particularly in non-core segments after the spin-off of Muno. This is pivotal as Wendel enhances its role as a leading investment firm, with a diversified and value-driven focus.
Furthermore, the regulatory approval process and consultation indicate that while the transaction is promising, it carries inherent risks. Investors should monitor the progress of these conditions closely.
For traders and long-term investors, Wendel's stock may become an attractive buy given its potential to further execute share buybacks, which should enhance shareholder value. In summary, Wendel's sale of Stahl not only positions the firm favorably in the specialty coatings sector but also marks a milestone in its broader strategy, making it a compelling choice for forward-looking investors.
**MWN-AI Summary and Analysis is based on asking OpenAI to summarize and analyze this news release.
PRESS RELEASE?–?FEBRUARY 4, 2026
Agreement to sell Stahl, the global leader in specialty coatings for flexible materials, to Henkel
Estimated net proceeds of €1.2 billion for Wendel, representing an annualized IRR of over 15% since 2006
Wendel (Euronext: MF.FP) announces it has entered into an agreement to sell its stake in Stahl (excluding Muno) for an enterprise value of €2.1 billion to Henkel, a German-headquartered global coatings and adhesives leader serving a broad range of industrial and consumer end markets. Henkel benefits from a strong track record in innovation, technology leadership and sustainability.
The contemplated transaction values Stahl at a level that would yield total net proceeds at completion (after debt and transaction costs) of c.€1.2 billion for Wendel. This corresponds to a multiple of 6.6 times (net) Wendel’s total investment since 2006, including €427m of past proceeds thanks to Stahl’s robust cash generation. This represents an annualized IRR of over 15% over 20 years. This compares with a value of €960 million in Wendel’s net asset value (“NAV”) published before the transaction announcement, as of September 30, 2025.
In addition to Wendel (68.5% of the capital), BASF (16.1%), Clariant (14.6%) and other minority shareholders will also sell their interests in Stahl to Henkel. The transaction is subject to mandatory consultation processes and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
A 20-year successful transformation and development under Wendel’s ownership
Stahl is the global leader in specialty coatings for flexible materials. The Group benefits from favourable end-market trends – particularly in premium consumer segments – strong exposure to high-growth regions (such as Asia), and a product portfolio driven by sustainable, water-based technologies. In addition, Stahl has successfully built attractive positions in fast-growing niches for specialty coatings. The early identification of consolidation and expansion opportunities, combined with rigorous financial discipline throughout Wendel’s ownership, has enabled Stahl to broaden its expertise and further strengthen its market leadership.
Between 2006 and 2024, under Wendel’s ownership, Stahl's global sales nearly tripled, from €316 million to €930 million (including wet-end leather chemicals activities, now operating under Muno and not part of the current transaction). This remarkable growth was supported by a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions, including the acquisition of Clariant’s Leather Services business in 2013, Eagle performance in 2016, BASF’s Leather Chemicals business in 2017, ICP Industrial Solutions Group in 2023, and Weilburger Graphics in 2024.
Over the same period, Stahl’s profitability improved materially, with adjusted operating income increasing fourfold, from €44 million to €181 million, and adjusted operating margin expanding by 550 bps to 19.5% in 2024.
In parallel, Stahl has established itself as a recognized ESG frontrunner in its industry. The Group has built a leading sustainability track record, reflected in four consecutive Ecovadis Platinum ratings since 2021, set ambitious SBTi validated reduction targets, and developed strong capabilities in sustainable innovation. With a product portfolio increasingly aligned with customer sustainability expectations and tightening regulatory requirements, Stahl is well positioned to support its customers’ ESG transition while delivering long-term, responsible growth.
Early 2026, Stahl announced the completion of its multi-year strategic transformation, marking its evolution into a pure-play speciality coatings formulator for flexible materials, by divesting its wet-end leather chemicals activities. The wet-end business is now a standalone company named Muno, majority-owned by Wendel, together with minority shareholders BASF and Clariant.
Laurent Mignon, Wendel Group CEO, commented: “Over the last 20 years, Wendel has worked alongside Stahl's talented and committed management teams to transform the company into the undisputed global leader in its sector. After two decades of active support, we are proud to see Stahl continue its industrial and commercial development within an industrial leader such as Henkel.
The transaction announced today is fully in line with our capital allocation strategy announced during our December 2025 Capital Market Day and is a great illustration of the quality of Wendel Principal Investments (WPI) assets and the cautiousness of their value in our Net Asset Value, with a value to be realized representing a premium of over 20%. It also represents a first successful illustration of the efficiency of the advisory mandate given to IK Partners.
The sale of Stahl is a key milestone in the execution of the roadmap presented early December and will allow Wendel to fulfil its objectives of long-term value creation through its private assets investments, the development of Wendel Investment Managers (WIM) as a first-class private asset management platform and superior return to shareholders. It will allow us to execute the share buyback programme as announced at the Capital Market Day, after the release of our 2025 earnings.”
Maarten Heijbroek, CEO of Stahl: “We are deeply grateful to Wendel for the long-term partnership and support that have shaped Stahl’s trajectory over the past two decades. Under Wendel’s ownership, Stahl has undergone a significant transformation into a focused, pure?play specialty coatings company with a strong global footprint, strengthened technologies, and a resilient market position. This transformation means we are now well?positioned for further growth.”
As we move into our next chapter under the Henkel umbrella, we believe this transaction will further strengthen our leadership position in specialty coatings for flexible materials. Henkel’s strong innovation capabilities will further enhance the value we deliver to our customers, and our shared values make this a natural and exciting next step for Stahl.”
Agenda?
??
Thursday, February?26, 2026?
Full-Year 2025?Results?–?Publication of NAV as of December 31, 2025, and Full-Year?consolidated?financial statements (before-market release)?
?
Thursday, April 23, 2026?
Q1?2026?Trading update?–?Publication of NAV as of March 31, 2026?(before-market release)?
?
?Thursday, May?21, 2026?
Annual General Meeting??
?
?Thursday, July?30, 2026?
?H1 2026?results?–?Publication of NAV as of June 30, 2026, and condensed Half-Year?consolidated?financial statements (before-market release)?
??
About Wendel
Wendel is one of Europe’s leading listed investment firms. Regarding its Principal Investments strategy, the Group invests in companies which are leaders in their field, such as ACAMS, Bureau Veritas, Crisis Prevention Institute, Globeducate, IHS Towers, Scalian, Stahl, Muno and Tarkett. In 2023, Wendel initiated a strategic shift into third-party asset management of private assets, alongside its historical principal investment activities. In May 2024, Wendel completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in IK Partners, a major step in the deployment of its strategic expansion in third-party private asset management ,completed in March 2025 the acquisition of 72% of Monroe Capital and announced the acquisition of Committed Advisors in October 2025. As of September 30, 2025, Wendel Investment Managers manages 46 billion euros on behalf of third-party investors, pro forma of the acquisition of Committed Advisors, and c.5.3 billion euros invested in its Principal Investments activity.
Wendel is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris.
Standard & Poor’s ratings: Long-term: BBB, stable outlook – Short-term: A-2
Wendel is the Founding Sponsor of Centre Pompidou-Metz. In recognition of its long-term patronage of the arts, Wendel received the distinction of “Grand Mécène de la Culture” in 2012.
For more information: wendelgroup.com
Follow us on LinkedIn @Wendel
| Press contacts | Analyst and investor contacts |
| Christine Anglade: +33 6 14 04 03 87 | Olivier Allot: +33 1 42 85 63 73 |
| c.anglade@wendelgroup.com | o.allot@wendelgroup.com |
| Caroline Decaux: +33 1 42 85 91 27 | Lucile Roch: +33 1 42 85 63 72 |
| c.decaux@wendelgroup.com | l.roch@wendelgroup.com |
| Primatice | |
| Olivier Labesse: +33 6 79 11 49 71 | |
| olivierlabesse@primatice.com | |
| Hugues Schmitt: +33 6 71 99 74 58 | |
| huguesschmitt@primatice.com | |
| Kekst CNC | |
| Todd Fogarty: +1 212 521 4854 | |
| todd.fogarty@kekstcnc.com |
Attachment
FAQ**
How does the sale of Stahl to Henkel under the "Wendel Investissement Act WNDLF" reflect Wendel's long-term value creation strategy and impact its future investments?
Can you elaborate on how the projected €1.2 billion net proceeds from the Stahl sale will be utilized in alignment with the "Wendel Investissement Act WNDLF"?
In what ways does the transaction under the "Wendel Investissement Act WNDLF" enhance Wendel's commitment to sustainability and responsible investing moving forward?
How does Wendel's history with Stahl, outlined in the "Wendel Investissement Act WNDLF," contribute to its net asset value and overall financial strategy as they transition to private asset management?
**MWN-AI FAQ is based on asking OpenAI questions about Wendel Investissement Act (OTC: WNDLF).
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