News

Brenntag acquires Korean distribution

4 May 2016

Chemicals distributor Brenntag has signed an agreement to acquire the South Korean specialty chemicals distributor Whanee Corporation, based in Gwacheon, near Seoul. The company mainly serves the domestic South Korean market.

Chemicals distributor Brenntag has signed an agreement to acquire the South Korean specialty chemicals distributor Whanee Corporation, based in Gwacheon, near Seoul. The company mainly serves the domestic South Korean market with a wide range of food and beverage ingredients with a focus on dairy-, functional- and flavour-related products.

“The acquisition facilitates Brenntag Asia Pacific’s market entry in South Korea with specialty chemicals distribution business subsequent to our acquisition of TAT Group, with which we entered the South Korean industrial chemicals market in December 2015,” said Henri Nejade, Member of the Board of Management of Brenntag Group and CEO Brenntag Asia Pacific. “At the time of the signing of this acquisition, we also established Brenntag Chemicals Korea, which is comprised of the industrial and specialty chemicals business operating in the segments Lubricants, Personal Care, Coatings and Home Care. Both operations now set a solid footprint of Brenntag in South Korea to further support our business partners and to execute our strategy in the country.”

Brenntag says that Whanee offers access to a solid local customer base including key players in the dairy food and beverage industry. In addition, the company is said to have a reputable international supplier base, partially with exclusive rights to import and sell the supplier’s products in the domestic market.

“Overall, South Korea’s market is considered to offer significant opportunities for Brenntag Asia Pacific in the centre of Northeast Asia where South Korea is home to world-class chemical companies,” said Anthony Gerace, Managing Director Mergers & Acquisitions at Brenntag Group. “The country’s local food and beverage market has experienced strong growth rates over the past years, and we believe this trend will continue and we are excited about improving our market position.”

The acquired business generated sales of €16.8 million in the financial year 2015. The closing of the transactions will occur in the course of the next weeks.