Tokyo, Japan, (Business Wire India) -- Industrial Equity Investments Limited ("IEIL"), an international investment company located in the Republic of Ireland, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Arysta LifeScience Corporation, from funds advised by Olympus Capital Holdings Asia and its co-investors. The acquisition is IEIL's first investment in Japan since it was established in 2005. The Permira Funds own the Irish company. The enterprise value is approximately JPY 250bn (US$2.2bn). Completion of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory review and approvals, is anticipated to occur in first quarter 2008.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Arysta LifeScience is the world's tenth largest agrochemical company. The company markets a portfolio of over 150 products in more than 125 countries with approximately 2,200 employees. Since its founding in 2001, Arysta LifeScience has built a reputation as one of the most agile, high-performance companies in the global agrochemical industry.

Margaret O'Connor, chairperson of IEIL, commented, "We are delighted to be acquiring a truly global business headquartered in Japan and look forward to supporting the management in their growth going forward."

Chris Richards, CEO of Arysta LifeScience, said, "Our continued success comes from a culture that is relentlessly focused on delivering innovative crop protection solutions that help our customers become more successful. Based on our strong product range and global reach, our employees have driven aggressive global growth through product development and strategic acquisition. Olympus Capital has provided consistent support for our growth over the last five years. We are now excited to look to the future with IEIL, who shares our vision and ambition to further accelerate our growth plans over the coming years."

Olympus Capital, an independent firm that has been in the Asian private equity business for more than 10 years, has entered into more than 10 strategic partnerships throughout the region. The firm completed an initial investment in Arysta LifeScience in 2002, partnering with then existing owners Tomen Corporation (now owned by Toyota Tsusho) and Nichimen Corporation (now part of Sojitz Corporation), who subsequently sold their stakes to the Olympus Group. During this period, Olympus Capital helped Arysta LifeScience to acquire more than JPY50bn (US$450 million) of companies and products around the world.

The Permira Funds provided all the equity for the IEIL's first acquisition in Japan. This investment demonstrates Permira's ability to identify strong investment opportunities in the region following its recent investment in Galaxy Entertainment Group of Hong Kong.

Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted as advisers to Arysta LifeScience and the sellers. JP Morgan, Clifford Chance, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Permira Ireland Limited acted as advisers to IEI.