News Article 2019

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October 16 2019, David R Brown

Azelis to acquire Turkish pharma, food ingredients and lab chemicals distributor, Ekin Kimya

Azelis, a leading distributor of specialty chemicals and food ingredients, has signed an agreement with Ak-taş Dış Ticaret A.Ş. ("Aktaş") and individual shareholders to acquire 100% shares of Ekin Kimya, a leading Turkish specialty chemicals distributor for pharma chemicals, food ingredients and lab chemicals headquartered in Istanbul. The company serves almost all the major pharmaceutical producers in Turkey and has long-term partnerships with some of the world-leading principals.

The pharmaceutical market in Turkey is very attractive from a distributor's perspective

Anna Bertona
Azelis CEO & President, EMEA

The acquisition of Ekin Kimya makes Azelis a leader in specialty chemicals and food ingredients distribution in Turkey. Azelis first entered Turkey with the acquisition of Tara Kimya in 2007 and has more than doubled its turnover in the last four years. Azelis and Ekin Kimya share a strong focus on specialty service offerings and technical expertise. Azelis' currently has three laboratories in Turkey for food, personal care and homecare applications and Ekin Kimya adds a modern pharmaceutical lab to their set-up.

Anna Bertona, Azelis Chief Executive Officer & President, EMEA, commented: “The pharmaceutical market in Turkey is very attractive from a distributor's perspective for a number of reasons: local production and consumption of pharmaceutical products have been steadily growing in Turkey; the Turkish government has been heavily investing in pharma industry as it wants the country to become a major pharmaceutical producer, exporter and R&D hub; and Turkey, of course, is among the 20 largest economies in the world.”

Mr. Muharrem Aktaş, Chairman of Ekin Kimya, highlighted: “This acquisition, which comes at a time when we are preparing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ekin Kimya's establishment, will play a key role in the company carrying its existing healthy and sustainable growth trend into the future.”

Sertaç Sürür, Managing Director of Azelis Turkey, said: “Whilst Azelis Turkey has achieved a significant presence in food & health, personal care, home care and more recently in CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers) and performance chemicals markets, we have been looking to expand our pharmaceutical activities.”

Ekin Kimya was founded in 1995 by Dr. Murat Çıtıroğlu who owns the company, together with Prof. Dr. Ekrem Ekinci and Aktaş, a leading distributor and trader of bulk petrochemicals. The company employs over 70 people. The transaction is expected to complete in the next three months.

About Azelis
Azelis is a leading distributor of speciality chemicals and food ingredients present in over 40 countries across the globe with around 2,000 employees. Our knowledgeable teams of industry, market and technical experts are each dedicated to a specific market within Life Sciences and Industrial Chemicals. We offer a lateral value chain of complementary products to about 40,000 customers, creating a turnover of €1.94 billion (2018). In the US we operate under a number of renowned co-brands in the personal care market segment.

Source(s): Azelis Press Release

Further Information

Visit: https://www.azelis.com