Univar gains contracts

DEALS DONE

DEVELOPMENTS • UNIVAR SOLUTIONS HAS PICKED UP SOME SIGNIFICANT DISTRIBUTION CONTRACTS AND MADE A MAJOR APPOINTMENT IN NORTH AMERICA

UNIVAR SOLUTIONS HAS named James B Holcomb as president of North American Distribution, a role in which he will take overall responsibility for the company’s chemical distribution activities in the US and Canada. His first priority will be to grow sales in non-specialty product and optimise the effectiveness of Univar’s North American sales force.

Holcomb moves to Univar from its major competitor Brenntag, where he was COO of Brenntag North America, and brings more than 25 years of industry experience. “I’m excited to welcome Jim to the Univar Solutions team,” says David Jukes, president and CEO of Univar Solutions. “His experience in the chemical distribution market in North America is unparalleled and he will be a major contributor to our S22 programme designed to accelerate growth and increase earnings through a customer centric focus on operational efficiency and omni-channel sales growth.”

Prior to Holcomb’s appointment, Univar had just announced two additions to its portfolio in North America. In one, Emerald Kalama Chemical appointed Univar as its “champion distributor” in the US for Kalaguard SB, the first and so far only sodium benzoate preservative registered by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“As the Covid-19 pandemic increases demand in the homecare and industrial cleaning (HIC) markets for hard surface cleaners and home care products, Univar Solutions continues to deliver differential value by providing a consistent global approach through its expanding portfolio of solutions,” says Joshua Hicks, vicepresident of Industrial Solutions at Univar. “Kalaguard SB is an excellent example as this provides an additional preservative for homecare applications to help meet changing regulatory needs and consumer demands in the HIC marketplace.”

Rosanna Stokes, business development manager for Emerald’s Consumer Specialties business in the Americas, adds: “Recently, the range of available preservatives has decreased significantly due to regulatory pressure, evolving consumer preferences and supply disruptions. At the same time, there is demand for eco-friendly, skin-friendly products that are still adequately protected from microbial contamination.”

THERE’S MORE Univar has also expanded its distribution agreement with Solvay to include its Novecare coatings and industrial process solutions portfolio; Univar will now distribute coatings products in the US and industrial products in the US and Canada.

“Through our network of solution centres, Univar Solutions is well positioned to deliver the functional, regulatory and market trend insights needed to help expand business in these important markets,” says Hicks. “Not only does this agreement continue to strengthen our existing relationship, it also allows both of us to better serve these extremely dynamic market segments. Solvay has an excellent reputation in the market for producing high performance materials, and for continued innovation, quality and application expertise that brings differential performance.”

Elsewhere, Univar has picked up a distribution deal for Dow Coating Materials’ coatings portfolio in the UK and Ireland and for industrial coatings in Turkey. “We are excited to deepen our distribution relationship with the Dow Coating Materials business from Dow,” says Hicks. “By bringing together a best-in-class product portfolio with industry leading service and market knowledge, we believe coatings manufacturers in the region will be able to further accelerate their growth.”

“When looking for the right channel partner for our coatings business in the UK, Ireland and Turkey, we wanted to find a distributor that brings together market leadership, technical innovation, and high levels of customer service. Univar Solutions clearly demonstrates its leadership in each of these areas,” says Roberto Lazzari, EMEAI distribution manager for Dow Coating Materials. www.univarsolutions.com

GROWTH IN NORTH AMERICA IS A MAJOR