Azelis buys in Turkey and Lebanon

Azelis has agreed to acquire Ekin Kimya, a major Turkish distributor of speciality chemicals, pharmaceutical and lab chemicals and food ingredients, from Aktas Dıs Ticaret and individual shareholders. Terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close within three months.

Dating back to 1995, Ekin Kimya is based in Istanbul, employs about 70 people and is said to serve almost all major pharmaceutical producers, as well as having a similar service ethos to Azelis. The founder, Dr. Çıtıroglu, is a well-known pharmaceutical chemist. The company has a pharmaceutical lab, to complement Azelis’s existing personal care, homecare and food laboratories in Turkey, where it has been present since 2007.

In early October, Azelis had also agreed to acquire Beirut-based Orkila, which was described as “the top speciality chemicals and food ingredients distributor throughout Africa and the Middle East”. Again, terms were not disclosed. This followed the establishment of Azelis subsidiaries in Morocco, Ivory Coast and Tunisia in recent years.

Orkila has offices in 13 countries and is active in over 30, employing 200 people. It has an application lab in Egypt for the food and personal care sectors and is also active in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, animal nutrition, paint, construction, oilfield, plastic additives, home care and water treatment markets. In all, Azelis has acquired five companies this year, also including Chemroy in Canada, MK in India and Euroconsultant in Poland.