Belgian speciality chemicals and food additives distributor Azelis (Antwerp; www.azelis.com) expects further growth from both its own operations and through takeovers, according to the company’s top manager.

In an interview with magazine CHEManager magazine, Azelis CEO Hans Joachim Müller said the company would “continue to actively participate in the consolidation of our industry”. In 2022 alone, Azelis announced 12 acquisitions after conducting 11 the year before.

Müller said management intends to push for inorganic growth above all in the Asia-Pacific region. There, Azelis most recently purchased New Zealand distributor Chemiplas Agencies (Auckland; www.chemiplas.co.nz – see Plasteurope.com of 07.12.2022). But Müller noted there is also significant growth potential in Africa.

There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of money for such transactions since the company’s IPO in September 2021. At that time, Azelis was valued at more than EUR 6 bn. Part of the proceeds from the IPO was used to pay down debt, another part to finance acquisitions, Müller told the magazine.

At the same time, the CEO announced his intent for the company to continue expanding on its own. Müller said organic growth in the first nine months of 2022 was almost 26%.

For 2021, the most recent reporting year, Azelis announced sales of EUR 2.82 bn, an annual increase of 27.2%. At that time, the main markets were the EMEA region and the Americas, each with at EUR 1.2 bn, with Asia-Pacific region contributing EUR 431 mn. According to company, the number of employees is currently more than 3,000.