Chemical distributor IMCD buys companies in Asia and Southern Europe
The Rotterdam-headquartered company has taken on Warwick’s distribution operations in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal along with its Slovenia-based entity and its Malaysian company.
According to IMCD, the combined businesses that will be acquired from Warwick bring in annual sales revenues of approximately €80m - IMCD’s current sales are in the region of €925m annually.
The company has a number of distribution businesses in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal and expects synergies with current operations to be possible in the future as well as opening up new growth possibilities.
“IMCD will continue to reinforce its presence in Europe as the leading distributor for specialty chemical and food ingredients,” said CEO Piet van der Slikke.
Although present in much of Europe, IMCD does not yet have a presence in Malaysia and the group hopes the acquisition will help it expand in the South East Asian region.
“With a dominant position in Australia and with presence in China and India, the addition of this leading Malaysian distributor to the Group is an important step for us to expand in South East Asia,” said Van der Slikke.
Formulations approach
In addition to expanding its footprint in new markets, the company is also focusing on training up its workforce in formulation technology to help boost personal care sales.
Earlier this year the company launched the Personal Care Academy, which will involve in-depth training sessions with both technical and sales staff on formulation issues.
According to the company, it is an attempt to move towards a formulation-based approach rather than an ingredients approach. This will allow the company to evaluate which raw materials, and in what combination, will contribute to successful finished products for its clients.
