At their annual general assembly in Sitges, Spain, members of the European Association of Chemical Distributors (FECC) elected Lars Wallstein of IMCD as the new president of the association for 2023-2035. He had previously been vice-president since 2021.

Wallstein succeeds Neville Prior of the Cornelius Group, who had led the organisation for ten years. The rest of the FECC leadership team is Oliver Fox of Italy’s AssIC as vice president elect and Mikko Pasanen of Finland’s TKL as treasurer.

IMCD has acquired three companies in recent weeks, two in Israel and one in Colombia. Terms were not disclosed in any of the deals. The three are:

* The import and distribution business of Tagra Biotechnologies, an Israeli distributor and supplier of raw materials and ingredients for cosmetics and personal care

* KOI Products Solutions, an Israeli distributor of speciality products mainly for the composite, paint, cosmetics, coatings and ink markets

* Allianz Group International, a distributor of APIs in Colombia T

IMCD has agreed agreement to acquire Shanghai Sanrise Industries & Development, a major distributor in China’s personal care markets. This will take place in two tranches: 70% now and the rest in 2025. Closing, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approval, is expected to take place in Q1 2023.

In the space of just over two weeks, Azelis, the world’s third largest chemical distributor, has made five acquisitions in four different regional markets. This followed up on two made the previous month as the company spreads its wings across the globe. All of the deals are expected to close in Q3.

Distributor IMCD has formed a new business group called Industrial Solutions, which will absorb the previous Synthesis group and areas of the other industries it serves. This has been done in response to such global trends as growing demand for products in applications like high-temperature, electronics and batteries, and sustainability, notably in recycling and water treatment.

IMCD has opened its new Mexican headquarters. This covers an area of 810 m² in a LEED Gold-certified building in the Torre Polanco development in Mexico City. It will be a centralised hub for the company’s digitalisation initiatives, formulation capabilities and business operations.

Distributor IMCD has agreed to acquire Polychem, a Vienna-based supplier of chemical raw materials and additives to speciality chemical manufacturers in Austria and Southeast Europe, notably in coatings and construction. Terms were not disclosed but it is known that Polychem had sales of about €25 million in 2020.