While Arsenal Capital Partners LP construction and textile chemicals platform Polyventive LLC is not the flashiest or most cohesive group of businesses, a process for the company is moving forward and expected by some to land a buyer, The Deal has learned.

Books are out for Calhoun, Ga.-based Polyventive, which was teased in the early fall but did not formally hit the market until the end of 2022, and early bids are expected this week, three sources familiar with the process said.

Boutique chemicals-focused bank Grace Matthews Inc. has advised bidders to submit initial indications of interest by mid-week after sending confidential information memorandums, or CIMs, to about 30 financial sponsors, the sources said.

Only a handful of sponsors, and primarily those not known to be the usual suspects in the chemicals industry, are expected to move forward in the process, two of the sources said. There also may be one or two small strategics in pursuit, a third of the sources said.

The primary reasoning for limited interest is the various disparate businesses Arsenal has cobbled together under the Polyventive brand, sources said.

Giving rough numbers, one source said about 40% of Polyventive’s business is in surfactants, while 20% is in polymers, 15% is in acids and another 10% or so is in dyes and pigments, leaving about 15% undescribed. Meanwhile, the company’s largest end-market is household and industrial solutions, which makes up about 30% of the business, the source added.

Chemicals buyers sometimes find it difficult to grapple with a platform aimed at so many different channels.