US private equity firm OpenGate Capital has bought two US chemical distributors in the space of a week. The first purchase on Jan. 11 was Chemsolv, a regional distributor of commodity and specialty chemicals headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia. The business was acquired from the Austin family, who continue to hold a stake.
IMCD China, part of Netherlands-headquartered globally active specialty chemicals distributor IMCD, has agreed to acquire all of Chinese personal care company Syntec to bolster its position in the personal care and cosmetics sector. Closing of the transaction, for which financial terms were not revealed, is planned to take place within the next five weeks.
Belgian-headquartered multinational distributor Azelis and its shareholders have raised €1.77 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Euronext Brussels exchange. Azelis gets €880 million from the offering, while shareholders including private equity firm EQT and PSP Investments receive €891 million.
German chemicals distributor Oqema has acquired Ireland’s Casoria for an undisclosed sum, expanding both its network in the country and its product portfolio. Based in Cavan, Casoria distributes a range of chemicals and metals to the Irish market.
Distrupol, a UK-based distributor of thermoplastics and elastomers, has acquired Lautrup Chemicals, a Danish polymers distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed.
In his interview with CHEManager, Hidde van der Wal, CEO of chemical distributor Barentz, talks about the company’s performance in 2020 and latest strategic developments.
Harke Pharma has expanded its distribution partnership through Eastern Europe with BOAI NKY, China’s largest PVP and PVPP manufacturer.
In the drive to reach growth objectives, or to maintain and enhance “critical mass”, mergers & acquisitions (M&A) has been a theme for the chemical distribution industry for years. The industry leaders (by size and geographic reach) were all built through a series of such transactions. The practice is further trickling down to the smaller and mid-sized company layer of the sector, and more distributors espouse external growth options.
Speciality chemicals and ingredients distributor IMCD has appointed Pilar Castellanos Pineda as Managing Director of IMCD Colombia effective May 25, 2021.
Analysis of the mergers & acquisitions activity in chemical distribution under the impression of the pandemic situation and how it might develop going forward.
Dutch distributor Barentz has acquired a majority stake in the Noack Group, extending its activities in the Central/East European region and gaining a complementary portfolio of animal nutrition ingredients.
Global chemical company Solvay and specialty chemicals distributor Oqema have entered into a distribution partnership for phenol and phenol derivatives. The partnership covers Solvay’s products hydroquinone, methylhydroquinone, TBC and PTZ for the monomers market, alongside other phenol derivatives for the agrochemicals and pharma markets.
Hamburg, Germany-headquartered HSH Chemie has founded a new subsidiary in Riga, Latvia by converting its former representative office, established already 3 years ago.
In its fifth acquisition so far this year, Azelis has agreed to buy Ekin Kimya, a leading Turkish specialty chemicals distributor active in the pharmaceuticals, food ingredients and laboratory chemicals segments. Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the next three months, were not disclosed.
“68% of chemicals worth $76 billion will be sold online within the next five years.” This was the message from leading market research institutes and consultants in 2000, at the start of the new millennium.
Digitalization is a very important topic not only in the chemical industry as a whole, but also in chemical distribution.
The traditional business model of chemical distributors is currently fundamentally challenged on one side by digitally enabled activities from principals, logistics providers, customers, start-ups, larger chemical distributors or combinations of smaller players, who try their own online channels, and on the other side by general e-retailers like Alibaba or Amazon, who explore to enter also into chemical & material categories.
