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NEWS BULLETIN
CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION
AGM’s CEO, says. “Maroon Group has leading expertise in additive sales and customer service, which is essential to support sales at this early stage of the graphene market’s development.” www.maroongroupllc.com AZELIS INTO ISRAEL
MAROON BUYS HOLLAND
Maroon Group has acquired Holland Chemicals, a value-added distributor of specialty chemicals and ingredients to the personal care, household & industrial cleaning, food, and industrial markets. Based in Burr Ridge, Illinois, Holland Chemicals provides a differentiated service offering through its technical sales model, formulary support and development capabilities, and a relentless focus on customer service. As part of Maroon Group, Holland Chemicals will continue to focus on its core markets while leveraging Maroon’s North American footprint, broad product offering, operational infrastructure, and digital capabilities to better serve customers and suppliers alike. “This transaction is another example of our commitment to targeted aggressive growth, and we’re thrilled to welcome the Holland Chemicals team to Maroon Group,” says Terry Hill, CEO of Maroon Group. “The business further strengthens our presence in several core end-markets and geographies, and adds depth to our technical and formulary teams.” “The combination with Maroon Group represents an ideal cultural and strategic fit for our organisation,” adds Jonathon Rhodes, who led Holland’s management team and will continue to manage the business on a
HCB MONTHLY | SEPTEMBER 2020
day-to-day basis. “We were able to join a team that is passionate about the industry, is focused on sustainability, and recognises the importance of creating value for our customers. We look forward to being able to leverage the growthoriented resources and added stability that Maroon Group provides. We are excited for the opportunity this creates for our employees, customers, and suppliers.” Maroon has meanwhile appointed Jason Miller as president of its Household, Industrial & Institutional (HI&I) vertical, acquired from Jeff and Barry Tannenbaum in 2018. The move is part of a long-term succession plan, under which Barry Tannenbaum stepped down at the end of June. “We’re grateful for Jeff and Barry’s leadership and support since Maroon Group acquired the business in 2018. They were an integral part of this succession process and we’re excited for them and their families as they begin their next chapter,” says Terry Hill. Maroon Group has also won a distribution agreement with Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) to introduce its proprietary Genable graphene dispersions technology to the US and Canadian coatings and polymers market. “I am delighted to announce Maroon Group as a very strong partner to help AGM drive commercial uptake of our graphene products in the North American market,” Adrian Potts,
Azelis has agreed to acquire Orokia Israel Ltd, a speciality chemical distributor active in several market segments in Israel. Formed in 2005, Orokia represents blue-chip principals supplying the agrochemical, animal nutrition, personal care, pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals markets. “Orokia and its forerunners have been present in the Israeli market for almost four decades, during which time the company has built up a strong market presence, counting major global players among the principals represented and serving more than 200 customers,” says Anna Bertona, CEO/president of Azelis EMEA. “This acquisition will bring an abundance of cross-selling opportunities to expand the business with our existing long-standing and trusted partners. For all these reasons, we are very excited about Orokia joining Azelis.” “Becoming part of a strong international player such as Azelis will bring considerable added value to our offering in the local market, especially in our core areas of application and formulation support, which are pivotal to success in specialty chemicals,” adds Liliane Halimi, managing director of Orokia. “We will also benefit from Azelis’ strong international infrastructure and access to additional customers and suppliers. In short, we see many growth synergies and we are confident that we are entering a thriving new chapter in the history of our company.” www.azelis.com MEGAFARMA ADDS DEALS
Megafarma has added further to the contracts it has gained since its acquisition earlier this year by Azelis. The latest win involves the distribution of Celanese’s emulsion polymers in Mexico. “Celanese and Azelis have a terrific working relationship. We have partnered together for many years in the US and Canada CASE market,” notes Dan Gruber, managing director of new business development, Azelis Americas CASE. “Expanding this relationship to Mexico
