Major chemical distributor Brenntag has agreed to form a 51:49 joint venture with Singapore-based Tee Hai Chem. Teehai provides raw materials and high-purity specialty chemicals to the life sciences, electronics and research & diagnostic sectors in Singapore and Southeast Asia. It reported sales of around €110.8 million in 2018.

“This is a great opportunity to foster growth for Brenntag into key markets primarily for pharma and semiconductors,” said Anthony Gerace, managing director mergers & acquisitions at Brenntag. “Moreover, entering into the joint venture will allow us to further develop the company through realizing synergies with the existing supplier and customer base of Brenntag in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Henri Nejade, member of Brenntag’s management board and CEO of Brenntag Asia-Pacific, added that the location of Teehai’s facilities in Singapore offers strategic advantages in proximity to customers, major ports and neighboring growth markets.

The transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks, subject to the usual conditions.

In separate news, Brenntag announced that it has been distributing a range of perfume oils from French fragrance company Mane to customers in Germany and Switzerland since the beginning of 2019.

Initially, the collaboration will concentrate on supplying producers of cosmetics and body care products, expanding in the near future to include the household cleaning and detergent segments.

Brenntag announced also that subsidiary Multisol Europe has been appointed as the distributor for Infineum’s lubricant and fuel additive products in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia with effect from Mar. 1.

The agreement extends an existing relationship between the two companies that covers countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.