Distribution giant Brenntag has agreed to acquire Kenya’s Desbro Group, strengthening the German company’s specialty chemicals presence in Africa. The Essen-based group said Desbro, which had sales of €70 million last year, is one of the largest and longest-standing distributors in East Africa.

Headquartered in Nairobi, privately owned Desbro has offices in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, serving East and Central Africa, including countries such as Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi and Zambia, along with an office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that serves markets in  the Middle East. The company distributes commodity and specialty chemicals to a variety of industries, including plastics, coatings, construction, textile, water treatment and life sciences.

“East Africa is a sizeable market for chemical distribution to which Brenntag now gains access via this acquisition,” said Anthony Gerace, Brenntag group’s managing director, mergers and acquisitions. “In particular, we see high potential to accelerate the growth of our material science business and to improve the market share in life sciences.”

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019, subject to certain conditions and regulatory approvals.

Brenntag is already present in South Africa having purchased several companies in recent years, including Lionheart, Plastichem, Multilube and Warren Chem Specialities. The company merged the separate entities into Brenntag South Africa on Oct. 1 2017. The business serves the life science (food, nutrition, pharma and personal care, material science (plastics, rubbers, polymers and lubricants) and industrial sectors from locations in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.