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NEWS BULLETIN
CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION
AZELIS KEEPS ON GROWING
Azelis has agreed to acquire Ixom’s Bronson and Jacobs businesses in Hong Kong and China, which specialise in the distribution of personal care ingredients, and its offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou. “Azelis recently strengthened its presence in Personal Care through the acquisition of CosBond in April 2020,” says Laurent Nataf, president/CEO of Azelis Asia Pacific. “The portfolio of Bronson and Jacobs China is highly complementary to CosBond’s and Azelis’ and will enhance our lateral value chain in this segment. Customers of both organisations will benefit from improved product range and access to additional principals. Furthermore, this acquisition will enable us to reinforce our foothold in the country, perfectly fitting our ambition to become a local champion in Personal Care in China.” Meanwhile in Colombia, and following the acquisition of Unired Químicas in November 2019, IMCD has rebranded its operations in the country as IMCD Colombia. “The formation of IMCD Colombia will help us further develop growth opportunities in new business segments
HCB MONTHLY | DECEMBER 2020
with our partners in this key Latin American market,” says Marcus Jordan, Americas president of IMCD. “Colombia is one of the largest economies in the region so our progress in this country dovetails nicely with our intent to continually expand IMCD’s reach in serving Latin America.” IMCD is headquartered in Cota, within the Bogotá metropolitan area, and represents world-class principals to the regional pharmaceuticals, food, nutrition and personal care sectors. The establishment of IMCD Colombia is a gateway for developing the company’s other core market segments including coatings, construction and advanced materials, the company states. “Now part of this leading global speciality distribution company, our team is thrilled to implement the new capabilities and resources available to us,” says Oscar Clavijo, managing director of IMCD Colombia. “Not only will customers reap the benefits from this integration, our opportunities for future growth will be amplified as we seek to expand our market reach throughout this region.” In financial news, IMCD has reported
third-quarter net income of €130.8m, up 9 per cent compared to the same period last year, with gross profit up 6 per cent at €485.7m. “All regions contributed to this outcome,” notes CEO Piet van der Slikke. “We are very pleased with these results considering the challenging market conditions that we are still facing due to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to strong operational performance in the third quarter, we also achieved successes in the further execution of our strategy, with acquisitions in Brazil, Finland and most notably India, where we reached an agreement to acquire 70 per cent of the shares of Signet Excipients, thus increasing our presence in the high-growth APAC region and delivering on our ambition to strengthen our global business in the distribution of pharmaceutical excipients.” www.imcdgroup.com UNIVAR GETS HUNTSMAN WORK
Huntsman has appointed Univar Solutions to distribute its polyurethane additives in the Americas. The products are used in the production of polyurethane foams, coatings,
