CVC Capital Partners Ltd, Europe''s No. 2 buyout firm, has agreed to acquire Netherlands-based Univar NV , the largest distributor of chemicals in the US, for €1.52 billion ($2.07 billion).

CVC will pay Univar 53.50 euros a share, 37 per cent more than the previous week''s closing price for the scrip, the companies said in a statement.

Rotterdam-based Univar distributes chemicals to 250,000 industrial users in the US. The bid by CVC comes less than three months after Univar bought Chemcentral Corp of Illinois to boost US sales 40 per cent and five days after CVC''s €800-million purchase of Taminco NV, a Belgian maker of chemical ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry from Dutch investment firm AlpInvest Partners NV in an auction.

London-based CVC said it backs expansion in the world''s biggest economy, which grew at its slowest pace since the end of 2002 in the first quarter, and also plans to fund further acquisitions in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Univar has 8,000 employees and more than 200 chemical-distribution centers in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia, it said in the statement. The majority of the company''s products are commodity chemicals bought in bulk and then processed, blended and sold to clients in industries ranging from agriculture and drugs to forestry, food and electronics.

The company''s sales last year totaled $8 billion, including revenue from Chemcentral, which was purchased in the second quarter for $650 million. The acquisition adds $1.4 billion in sales and is being financed through a $1.5 billion loan.

Dutch investment company HAL Holdings has accepted CVC''s offer and will receive €426 million for its 26.6-per cent of Univar stock, booking a gain of €220 million. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, the companies said in the statement.

CVC was founded in 1981 as Citicorp''s European private-equity arm before its managers bought their independence in 1993. Run by Michael Smith, who joined from Citibank in 1982, the firm has about $24 billion of funds. CVC is investing €10 billion it has amassed in the past two years.

Univar is being advised by NM Rothschild & Sons Ltd. and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek. CVC has hired ING Corporate Finance, Bank of America Corp. and Deutsche Bank AG as financial advisers and Kirkland Ellis LLP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP as legal advisers.