M&As: Safic-Alcan buys UK chemical firm; Brenntag takes up majority shareholding in Singapore’s Tee Hai

French speciality chemicals firm Safic-Alcan has acquired 100% of Langley-Smith & Company in the UK, a specialty chemicals distributor with a focus on adhesives, paint and coatings, polymer modification, road marking and rubber processing, inks and varnishes. The family-run business is also a player in the beverage, animal feed and detergency sectors. Terms were not disclosed.

“The acquisition of Langley-Smith will cement our position as a leader in the specialty chemicals distribution in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as develop our capabilities in mainland Europe” stated Yann Lissillour, Director of Mergers and Acquisitions for Safic-Alcan.

Safic-Alcan is a French independent distributor of specialty chemicals headquartered in Paris. The company develops and provides wide ranges of polymers, materials and additives for the rubber, coatings, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries. In 2018, Safic-Alcan posted sales revenues of EUR611 million.

In other news, chemical distributor Brenntag has entered a 51:49 joint venture with Singapore’s Tee Hai Chem Pte Ltd, which is a strategic market leader in providing supply chain solutions for materials, chemicals and services for the Life Sciences, Electronics manufacturing and Research & Diagnostics sectors in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

The product portfolio consists of raw materials, consumables as well as high purity specialty chemicals. Other products include research and diagnostics chemicals, chemical delivery systems and maintenance, repair and operations supplies. In addition, the company offers customisable supply chain solutions including external warehousing.

Anthony Gerace, Managing Director Mergers & Acquisitions at Brenntag Group: “Brenntag considers the joint venture as an important step into the most attractive industry groups in Singapore and beyond. This is a great opportunity to foster growth for Brenntag into key markets primarily for pharma and semiconductors. Moreover, entering into the joint venture will allow us to further develop the company through realising synergies with the existing supplier and customer base of Brenntag in the Asia Pacific region.”

Han Koon Juan, Executive Director of Tee Hai said: “On behalf of my family, I am very pleased to welcome Brenntag as a significant shareholder. We have built our business over the last five decades, and we look forward to growing even further with Brenntag as our partner. Our market leading capabilities combined with Brenntag’s global reach will create unparalleled synergies that benefit our customers and business partners.”

Tee Hai owns two facilities, including the largest purpose-built standalone GxP-compliant facility in Singapore and Southeast Asia for the life sciences industry, and the largest facility for high volume, logistics operations in Singapore for the electronics industry.

In 2018, the business reported total sales of approximately EUR110.8 million.

Germany-headquartered Brenntag operates a global network with more than 580 locations in 73 countries and a workforce of more than 16,600 employees. In 2018, the company generated sales of EUR12.6 billion.

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