News bulletin – chemical distribution

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 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,

adhesives, elastomers and high-modulus castings for the automotive, refrigeration, furniture and bedding, as well as building and construction markets.

“We’re very excited to represent Huntsman’s portfolio of polyurethane additives throughout the Americas as our network, digital technology, technical expertise, and market knowledge are expected to help customers’ efforts with developing low-emission polyurethane systems for better sustainability profiles,” says Nick Powell, president, specialty chemicals and ingredients for Univar Solutions. www.univarsolutions.com

CALDIC BUYS INTO BIOPHARMA

Caldic has agreed to acquire Brand-Nu Laboratories and BNL Sciences, two value-adding distributors of specialty chemicals for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries, located in the US and Ireland, respectively. The acquisition supports Caldic’s ambition to further expand its activities in the pharma and biopharma sectors, emphasising its strong focus on value-adding service capabilities.

“We are thrilled with this transaction as this will be a major step in expanding our existing (bio)pharma activities. It is a highly attractive, fast growing segment in which we can add real value for our partners,” says Olav van Caldenborgh, Caldic board member. “With Brand Nu and BNL, we are acquiring strong partners with company cultures that are highly similar to Caldic’s culture, evolving around entrepreneurship, customer focus and relationship building.”

John Gorman, president of Brand-Nu, says: “In Caldic we have found a great global partner that will help us accelerate our growth strategy. We can strongly relate to their customer-centric focus and have a similar approach to offering a wide range of value-add solutions. As the companies are highly complementary and share the same values, we are convinced that the combination will be beneficial for all stakeholders involved.”

The deal is expected to close before the end of 2020, subject to the usual conditions and approvals. www.caldic.com

BARENTZ BUYS AGAIN

Barentz has continued its spending spree, acquiring Singapore-based Nardev, a distributor of ingredients for the personal care market that has offices across south-east Asia.

“We have been working hard to strengthen our presence in the Asian market, with emphasis on human nutrition,” says Hidde van der Wal, CEO of Barentz. “We constantly have invested in the knowledge and expertise of the SEA market, and Nardev brings us now very strongly into the local personal care business - business that we know very well in other parts of the world, such as Americas and Europe. It is very exciting to add new customers and new suppliers in this region. We are also very pleased that the current management remains active to help us to guide into this new market segment.”

The Nardev deal was followed less than two weeks later by Barentz acquiring Sevecom, an Italy-based specialist in emulsifiers. The acquisition aligns with Barentz’ strategy to become a global leader in life science ingredients and to further expand its animal nutrition solutions.

“Sevecom has a very strong position, with patented emulsifiers,” notes van der Wal. “Together with our animal nutrition team and our global network there will be new opportunities to offer added value to all feed industry customers. We are excited to begin this new journey, together with this specialised Sevecom team that will remain responsible for the day-to-day business.” www.barentz.com

BODO AND HENKEL STICK TOGETHER

Bodo Möller Chemie and Henkel Adhesives Technologies have expanded their collaboration, with Bodo Möller becoming the leading pan-European sales and distribution partner for Henkel’s adhesive solutions. Bodo Möller’s existing Adhesive Competent Centre and lab is being significantly expanded to allow it to perform tests specific to Henkel products.

“Owing to its close partnership with Henkel, Bodo Möller Chemie is following its strategy to become the leading adhesive distributor in Europe,” says Frank Haug, CEO of the Bodo Möller Chemie Group. “The next step is planning an expansion of the existing activities in the Middle East, Africa, China and North America. We want to be the No 1 in distributing adhesives and giving expert advice to user companies, and consistently pursue this strategy. The change in production processes and the growing use of adhesives require this service and knowledge of Adhesives 4.0.” bm-chemie.com