At their AGM on 15 June, Brenntag shareholders voted for the company’s supervisory board candidates and rejected alternatives from ‘activist’ investor PrimeStone Capital, which has been agitating for a radical change in strategy. All of the motions proposed by the board were also approved, including a €2/share divided payout.

Richard Ridinger was re-elected as a member of the supervisory board with 62.71% of the votes cast, while Sujatha Chandrasekaran was newly elected with 61.79%. At its constituent meeting following the AGM, the supervisory board elected Ridinger as chairman.

Following reports by Bloomberg, it has been confirmed that Brenntag and Univar Solutions have held preliminary discussions regarding a potential acquisition. Neither company has commented further beyond stressing that discussions are at an early stage and there is no certainty of completion.

The deal, if completed, would be Brenntag’s largest ever and would bring together the world’s largest and second largest chemical distributors. Brenntag and Univar had sales of €14.4 billion and $9.5 billion respectively last year.