3i Group PLC (III.LN) has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC) to sell Belgian chemicals company Azelis, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.

3i invested EUR72 million in the company in December 2006 as part of a EUR315 million deal in which it acquired a 60% stake.

Azelis, which distributes chemicals for paints and polymers for plastics manufacture across 26 markets in Europe, has sales of around EUR1 billion and is valued at over EUR500 million.

Azelis is just one of several chemicals companies involved in current merger and acquisition activity. Just last week Bridgepoint bought German specialty chemicals company CABB from AXA Private Equity, while the auction of Germany's Evonik Industries AG's Carbon Black business reaches its final stages with three bidders remaining.

-By Marietta Cauchi, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9241; marietta.cauchi@dowjones.com
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