Kermel's MBO - April 2002

In April 2002 Venkatesh Tulluri, then strategy director of Rhodia’s technical fibers division, announced to his management that he wanted to engineer a spin-off and management buyout (MBO) of Kermel, a small company within Rhodia’s portfolio. Kermel was a niche player in the specialty fiber market that had not been included in the ongoing company’s asset divestment program. The case investigates the evolution of the MBO process and the hurdles Venkatesh Tulluri has to overcome to give life to his endeavor. This case is interrelated with two other cases that focus on the other actors of the deal: Argos Soditic, the private equity investor, and TCFG, the M&A advisor of Tulluri and Kermel’s management team.