Niederer Kraft Frey AG | View firm profile
19 December 2025
Niederer Kraft Frey has acted as lead counsel to the International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG) on the acquisition of BASF’s global optical brightening business by ICIG’s care chemicals platform Catexel. The transaction comprises the international operations of the business, including the production of optical brightening agents at the Monthey site in Switzerland with approximately 80 employees, and represents a further strategic investment by ICIG in the specialty chemicals sector.
Catexel is the care chemicals platform of ICIG and focuses on high-quality specialty chemicals for laundry and home care, personal care, and industrial applications. The company is a global leader in detergent ingredients, operating production sites in Germany, the United States and the Netherlands. Catexel develops, manufactures and markets specialty chemicals for a broad range of applications and is an integral part of the ICIG group.
The NKF team was led by Corporate/M&A partner Philippe Weber and senior associate Samuel Hochstrasser, working with partner Fabiano Menghini (Real Estate), associate Stephanie Huchler (Employment) and junior associate Sandja Kozina (Corporate/M&A).