MidOcean Partners acquired a majority equity position in Agilex Flavors & Fragrances. Agilex was previously owned by Nautic Partners, a middle-market private firm.

Agilex is a provider of fragrance compounds and delivery systems sold primarily to manufacturers of air care, personal care, industrial and institutional and household products. The company’s facilities include production facilities in Georgia, New Jersey and China along with a Creative Center for Excellence in Piscataway, NJ and fragrance laboratory located in Hong Kong.

The current management team is investing alongside MidOcean. The new board of directors will include Daniel Stebbins, the former president of the Flavor Division worldwide for Dragoco and Haarmann & Reimer. Also joining the board is Thomas Virtue, former president of Givaudan Roure, and Brian Connolly, the former executive vice president and president of North America for Avon Products.

“Over the course of the past several years, MidOcean has been evaluating opportunities in the value-added fragrance and flavors space, and we found Agilex’s leading position in a fragmented middle market, its role in providing critical fragrance inputs for customers, and its excellent management team very compelling,” said Rob Sharp, a MidOcean Managing Director.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel for MidOcean Partners. Fidus Partners served as financial advisor to Agilex, while Edwards Wildman Palmer acted as legal counsel for the Company.

Piscataway, NJ-based Agilex provides of fragrance compounds and delivery systems in the middle-market.

MidOcean Partners is a private equity firm headquartered in New York focused on the middle-market.

Nautic Partners is a middle-market private equity firm with over $2.5 billion of equity capital under management.