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NEWS BULLETIN
CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION
MIDDLE EAST EXPANSION FOR AZELIS
Azelis has acquired the Lebanon-based distributor Orkila, which will expand its specialty chemical distribution network in Africa and the Middle East. Orkila, headquartered in Beirut, currently operates offices in 13 countries and has an active presence in more than 30 countries. Dr Hans Joachim Müller, Azelis CEO and president, says: “We are very excited that Orkila will become a part of Azelis. They are a well-established company, known in Africa and the Middle East for their high-quality expertise and service. We have been impressed by Orkila’s committed management, the similarity of our business models and excellent cultural fit.” More than 220 Orkila employees will join the Azelis team. To ensure business continuity, Audrey Sacy Aris, Christophe Sacy and other senior managers will continue to run Orkila operations. Meanwhile, in Turkey, Azelis has acquired Ekin Kimya, the leading Turkish specialty
HCB MONTHLY | DECEMBER 2019
chemicals distributor for pharma chemicals, food ingredients and lab chemicals. Anna Bertona, CEO and president of Azelis EMEA, says: “The pharmaceutical market in Turkey is very attractive from a distributor’s perspective for a number of reasons: local production and consumption of pharmaceutical products have been steadily growing in Turkey and the Turkish government has been heavily investing in pharma industry as it wants the country to become a major pharmaceutical producer, exporter and R&D hub.” Azelis and Ekin Kimya share a focus on specialty service offerings and technical expertise. In addition to Azelis’ three laboratories in Turkey, Ekin Kimya will bring a modern pharmaceutical lab to the portfolio. www.azelis.com UNIVAR SOLUTIONS EXPANDS PORTFOLIO
Univar Solutions has been selected to distribute Inovyn’s full line of Cereclor™ chlorinated paraffins in the US. Cereclor is designed for
applications in products such as metalworking fluids, PVC enhancers, coatings, sealants and adhesives, single component polyurethane foams and rubber chemicals. “Univar Solutions is excited to announce this relationship with Inovyn and to offer their market leading Cereclor line to customers in a wide-variety of industries,” says Mark Fisher, president Univar Solutions US. “Adding a robust chlorinated paraffin line to Univar Solutions’ already leading portfolio positions us well to offer our customers the best range of base and specialty chemicals serving end markets such as lubricants and metalworking fluids.” Additionally, Univar Solutions will distribute Kaopolite® abrasive in polish and cleaning formulations across Europe for the coatings and adhesives and household and industrial cleaning markets. Kaopolite is now entering the hard surface cleaning market after strong success with soft abrasives. “Univar Solutions currently works with Imerys Kaopolite across various geographies and we are excited to further expand our collaboration to bring more high performing and sustainable offerings to the market,” explains Philippe Seurin, director industrial specialties EMEA at Univar Solutions. Meanwhile, Univar Solutions has reported third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $184.2m, up 17.3 per cent year-on-year following the acquisition of Nexeo. Net income fell from $49.6m to $2.5m, reflecting costs relating to the integration of Nexeo as well as tax and financial charges. “During the quarter, we controlled the controllables, executed well and delivered solid financial results in a challenging, decelerating demand environment,” says David Jukes, president and CEO. “We made substantial progress on the integration of Nexeo, including a successful, seamless first wave systems migration and roll-out of realigned sales territories to our newly consolidated, energised US sales force.”
