Azelis Boosts Asian Presence with South Korean Buys
Azelis has made two acquisitions this month to date, both in South Korea. The most recent agreement, announced on Jul. 14, is the proposed takeover of Seoul-headquartered Coseal, which specializes in the distribution, repackaging and blending of agricultural/horticultural surfactants.
This transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, when all of Coseal’s 45 employees, along with its owner and CEO Sang Jin Kang, will transfer to the Belgium-based distributor.
“There is huge potential to gain new business in South Korea with Coseal’s expertise of the sector and Azelis’ existing global principal network and international agricultural/horticultural customer base,” Kang said. Azelis entered South Korea in 2018 with the acquisition of SammiChem, which is now known as Sammi Azelis.
Nearly two weeks earlier, on Jul. 1, Azelis revealed it had purchased MH, a local distributor in the food ingredients market, providing the multinational specialty chemicals distribution group with a foothold in the food and health segment.
Also headquartered in Seoul, MH is a family-owned business, supplying products such as gluten, starches, sweeteners and functional food ingredients. Its founder and managing director Maeng Moon-Ho will retain his position and support MH’s integration into Azelis. He commented: “Becoming part of the Azelis family will secure our future in South Korea, supported by Azelis platforms in areas such as digital, sustainability and regulatory.”
Separately, Azelis completed the purchase of Vigon International on Jun. 2. Vigon is a leading US specialty distributor and manufacturer of ingredients for the flavors and fragrances market segments. The acquisition was first announced on May 5.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
