Wesfarmers strong for Dyno Nobel deal

Australian hardware and energy group Wesfarmers has emerged as a top contender in the effort to purchase Norwegian explosives manufacturer Dyno Nobel.

Four other private equity firms have also made it to the final round of the bidding: Permira, Apollo Management, Bain Capital, and Blackstone Partners. Bain and Blackstone both have prior experience in the sector.

Wesfarmres, however, is seen as a strong contender in the bidding due to its existing joint venture with Dyno Nobel’s Asia Pacific division in an integrated ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility in Queensland, Australia.

Dyno Nobel, which was founded by Alfred Nobel, who developed dynamite and whose name graces prizes including the Nobel Peace Prize, was put on the block earlier this year by Industri Kapital, the Swedish private equity firm that bought the company in 1999 and then delisted it from the Norwegian stock exchange.

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