Azelis to acquire personal care ingredients distributor SammiChem

Azelis has reached an agreement to purchase SammiChem Co, a personal care ingredients distributor in South Korea.

Located in Seou, SammiChem Co employs 17 employees, who will be joining the Azelis team.

Azelis intends to use the acquisition to expand its presence in South Korea, while also increasing its range of services. The acquisition also supports the growing commitment of Apax Partners, which is a major shareholder in Azelis.

Azelis CEO Hans Joachim Müller said: “South Korea is a technologically advanced country with a highly skilled, affluent middle class. A large part of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) personal care market is located in South Korea, making it a very attractive country, both in terms of size and product quality.

“As we have been building a very strong technical expertise in life sciences in APAC, personal care in particular, this all makes South Korea very attractive for us. We found an excellent strategic fit with Sammi and we are now very excited to start growing our business here.”

Azelis APAC CEO and President Laurent Nataf said: “Sammi has built a good customer base and valuable principal relationships. Its laboratory is well equipped for providing innovative solutions to the trend-setting South Korean personal care market and we are very excited to be part of this global driving force now.

“We believe that the synergies with our international structure and our own partnerships will be a valuable contribution to the local market.”

The transaction is expected to be completed over the next three months.