Italian-based speciality chemicals group Italmatch has signed a binding agreement to purchase the majority of Alcolina, a Brazilian company specialised in water treatment for bioethanol, sugar production and industrial applications, including paint, pulp and paper. Terms were not disclosed.

Alcolina has two manufacturing sites at Cravinhos and Rio Lago, 80 employees and it had a turnover of €35 million in 2023. Italmatch said that the company is “strongly complementary” to its own current product portfolio. The company now generates 5% of its sales in Latin America.

Levaco Chemicals, a manufacturer of speciality chemicals and additives based at Chempark Leverkusen in Germany, has completed setting up a commcercial subsidiary in Brazil. The creation of a sales and logistics hub there “is already in full swing”, the company said.

Levaco, a Lanxess and Tanatex spin-off, has been already been active for several years in Brazil and sees particularly strong potential in the agrochemicals and food chemicals sectors. It has now installed a warehouse in São Paolo in order to guarantee imports and make deliveries more efficiently.

Univar Solutions has reached an agreement to serve as Solvay’s first distribution partner for the agrochemical market in Brazil. This covers agrochemical defensives, adjuvants and fertilisers. It is the first time Solvay has named a distributor for this market in the country.

Indorama Ventures has acquired Brazilian firm Oxiteno from the Ultra Group in a $1.3 billion that should close in Q1 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. This will bring a significantly extended business in high-value surfactants within the Integrated Oxides & Derivatives (IOD) business, as well as other speciality chemicals.

Israel’s ICL has agreed to acquire Fertiláqua, one of Brazil’s largest speciality plant nutrition companies from private equity firm Aqua Capital for about $120 million. The company said that this will expand its portfolio and significantly enhance its customer base and presence across agriculture regions in Brazil.

Global chemical distributor IMCD has made two further acquisitions to expand its presence in South African distributor Siyeza Fine Chem and VitaQualy of Brazil. Terms were not disclosed in either case.

Johannesburg-based Sizeya was founded in is active in pharmaceutical, veterinary, food and personal care speciality chemical ingredients. It employs 27 people, who will remain with the firm and generated a revenue of €11.7 million in 2019. The deal will close at the end of 2020, subject to customary regulatory review.