Brenntag (WKN A1DAHH), the global market leader in chemical distribution, today announces the acquisition of the remaining 50% of the shares in Crest Chemicals Proprietary Limited (“Crest”), South Africa, from the AECI Limited (“AECI”, JSE AFE) Group of companies. Crest has been a 50:50 joint venture between Brenntag and AECI since 2001.
Karsten Beckmann, Member of the Board of Management of Brenntag Group and CEO Brenntag Europe, Middle East and Africa: “The full ownership of Crest allows Brenntag to develop the business in the desired direction and to fully leverage its growth potential. Combining Crest with Brenntag South Africa will support us in providing a rather complete product and industry sector offering.”
Crest, based in Midrand/Johannesburg, is a distributor and reseller of chemicals to a broad range of South African industries including Industrial, Paint and Coatings, Food, as well as Mining and Water. In addition to products, support and services, the company offers superior technical solutions and formulation expertise to its customers.
Anthony Gerace, Brenntag Group’s Managing Director Mergers & Acquisitions: “We expect to realize cost synergies and convert cross selling opportunities by combining Crest and Brenntag South Africa since both companies have complementary product lines. In addition, Brenntag will benefit from Crest’s mixing & blending capabilities, a service that is increasingly requested by customers.”
The acquired business generated sales of approximately 95 million EUR in the financial year ended 31 December 2018. Closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions precedent. It is expected to be finalised before the end of 2019.
