On December 21, 2004, AIG Global Investment Group (AIGGIG), on behalf of clients of its member companies, invested €7.5 million in a mezzanine term loan facility to Aster II S.A., a newly incorporated company owned by CVC Capital Partners, formed to acquire BASF AG Printing Business (BDS) and ANI Printing Inks B.V. (ANI). The merger of BDS and ANI represents a significant step in the consolidation of the European inks market and the creation of a powerful number two European player with a combined market share of approximately 20%.

BDS is the number one European producer of consumable flexographic printing plates and the number two producer globally, with over 40% and 25% market share, respectively. BDS is also one of Europe's leading manufacturers of inks for print media, packaging inks, and process color pigments used in print media inks. ANI is a niche player and is the leading producer of global narrow web inks, a subset of the print media inks business. ANI has over 30% market share in this sector and is twice the size of its closest competitor. Within the web offset market, ANI is the third largest European producer of inks for newspapers with 15% market share.

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