News bulletin – chemical distribution

NEWS BULLETIN

CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION

UNIVAR SELLS PLASTICS

Univar Solutions has completed the sale of the Nexeo Plastics division of Nexeo Solutions to an affiliate of One Rock Capital Partners for $640m. Net proceeds of some $615m will be used to pay down debt. “Completing the divestiture of Nexeo Plastics ahead of schedule is a major accomplishment for Univar Solutions, enabling us to focus fully on the core chemical distribution business and significant value creation opportunities of our newly combined company,” says president/CEO David Jukes.

Tony W Lee, managing partner at One Rock: “We see tremendous growth opportunity for Nexeo Plastics as a stand-alone plastics distribution business. Our team looks forward to working alongside management to deepen the company’s relationships with customers and supplier partners.”

“One Rock’s operational support and deep knowledge of the plastics and distribution industries will enable us to further enhance Nexeo Plastics’ capabilities and unlock the company’s full potential,” adds One Rock managing partner R Scott Spielvogel.

In other news, Univar Solutions has adopted Dow’s ‘Advancing a Circular Economy’ goal as one of its sustainability ‘Goals to 2021’. The goal focuses on advancing a circular economy by redesigning, recycling, reusing and remanufacturing to keep materials at their highest value use for as long as possible.

“We’re pleased to take another step forward in our journey to a more sustainable future,” says Jukes (above, right). “’Advancing a Circular Economy’ is well aligned to our commitments with ensuring greater transparency, accountability, and measurability of our progress and aligns well to our 2021 commitments as well as our cultural values.” www.univarsolutions.com www.onerockcapital.com

HARKE ADDS SPECIALITIES

Germany-based Harke Group has acquired Chemlink Specialities and Addi-Tec from Chemlink Group, giving it a strong base in the UK and an opportunity to expand its portfolio of products. Chemlink Specialities is a distributor of specialty chemicals in the UK and Ireland with a focus on household and industrial products as well as pharmaceuticals. It has its own lab in Manchester, which Harke intends to expand. Addi-Tec caters primarily to the paints, coatings and plastics processing sectors.

Harke Group president Thorsten Harke says the move is “another important step in Harke’s strategy of offering customers and principals an excellent and innovative commercial, logistics and technical service throughout Europe, Russia and Turkey”. www.harke.com

REBRANDING UNVEILED

The NRC Group has rebranded itself as Nordmann, seeing the move as a logical step after two years of international expansion. “Expanding our international presence and repositioning ourselves under the unified Nordmann brand were the next two logical steps in our development as an internationally successful group of companies,” explains Dr Gerd Bergmann, managing director of Nordmann, Rassmann GmbH. “This move makes sure we stay the internationally well-positioned, modern and recognisable distribution company that our suppliers and customers need – and it provides us with a solid foundation for a successful future.”

Following the change, Nordmann has a new look and a new website. www.nordmann.global

DISTRIBUTION GROWTH

Safic-Alcan has acquired Langley-Smith & Company, a specialty chemicals distributor in the UK, Ireland and Europe with a focus on

adhesives, paint and coatings, polymer modification, road marking and rubber processing, inks and varnishes. Yann Lissillour, director of mergers and acquisitions at Safic-Alcan, says: “The acquisition of LangleySmith will cement our position as a leader in the specialty chemicals distribution in the UK and Ireland, as well as develop our capabilities in mainland Europe.”

David Crow, owner and managing director of Langley-Smith, adds: “Combining LangleySmith’s longstanding presence and expertise with Safic-Alcan’s excellent international network will open a new chapter for both companies’ industrial businesses.”

Philippe Combette, CEO at Safic-Alcan, concludes: “Langley-Smith is a family business that shares our values. They have decades of technical experience in-house from a variety of backgrounds, which enables them to provide ‘innovative solutions’. Trusted by customers and suppliers, we are grateful that the owners will ensure a smooth transition to preserve the unrivalled expertise.” www.safic-alcan.co.uk

IMCD EXPANDS PARTNERSHIPS

IMCD has announced an expansion of the distribution partnership with DuPont Industrial Biosciences in Europe for biocides used in industrial preservation and homecare applications. IMCD and DuPont have complementary catalogues of services and products for consumers, now providing even greater coverage and a wider range of options. IMCD will distribute the biocides in Europe and South Africa across the coatings, construction, homecare and industrial and institutional cleaning markets.

“We are pleased to announce the extension of our global partnership with IMCD, which now includes the European biocides market,” says Jeroen Ingelbrecht, sales director EMEA at DuPont Industrial Biosciences. “IMCD’s experience and deep knowledge positions them well to provide personalised support to our customer on the ground. The fact that IMCD provides formulatory, regulatory and technical expertise sets them apart in the industry and makes IMCD our partner of choice.” www.imcdgroup.com

ACETO SELLING ASSETS

Aceto completed its ‘stalking horse’ agreement on the sale of Rising Pharmaceuticals on 22 April. Aceto received court approval to sell the assets and subsidiaries of Rising Pharmaceuticals to Shore Suven Pharma. The deal was for $15m, plus the assumption of operating liabilities and customer obligations, on a cash-free and debt-free basis.

Aceto subsequently sold its chemical business assets to New Mountain Capital, also at the end of a court-supervised sale process. “We look forward to working closely with management to help the company realise its full growth potential by scaling capabilities in key markets and investing in new organic and inorganic initiatives while maintaining the high level of quality and reliability which have always been the hallmarks of Aceto’s success,” says Andre Moura, managing director at New Mountain Capital.

William C Kennally III, Aceto’s CEO, says: “The transaction with New Mountain Capital provides the company’s chemical-related businesses with deep capital resources to invest in growth opportunities for the benefit of their customers and suppliers.”

Both transactions follow the filing by Aceto and its US subsidiaries of voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in February this year. www.aceto.com

PURE DISTRIBUTION

TER Chemicals has acquired distribution rights for Clariant’s Tonsil® bleaching earth across Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, the UK, Ireland, France and the Benelux nations. The long-standing partnership already covers a large portfolio of specialty chemicals and product solutions. The latest addition adsorbs fatty acids, dyestuffs, turbidities and heavy metals, while protecting valuable nutrients. Tonsil® bleaching earth is primarily used for filtering and purifying vegetable oils and liquids.

Harald Dettmers, head of business unit at TER Chemicals, says: “We are glad about the addition to our portfolio and Clariant’s confidence and trust in our long-standing partnership. Our customers value our large portfolio of specialty chemicals and product solutions from one source. With the addition of Tonsil we can also prove our high service quality and market understanding in the field of bleaching earths.” www.terchemicals.com