Innospec has announced that it will acquire the European Personal Care and Home Care business of Huntsman. Based in Belgium with manufacturing sites in France, Italy and Spain, the business employs approximately 430 people and has sales revenue of around $230 million.
The deal would significantly expand Innospec’s product line for foaming surfactants for the rinse-off segment as well as bringing complementary technologies for leave-on skin care and sun care.
“Our renowned expertise and product development in sulfate-free surfactants has served us well as a growth strategy, however, we were always aware that in order to fulfil our vision to ‘take up more space in the bottle’ of cosmetics and toiletries we must meet a wider range of customer needs,” commented Samantha Thistleton, marketing manager of Innospec Performance Chemicals. “This proposed acquisition would give us an excellent opportunity to strengthen our position in EMEA and to better serve our customers with a much broader portfolio for personal care and home care products.”
Bruce McDonald, President of Performance Chemicals at Innospec added: “The Huntsman business has a well-established presence in Europe and the range of technologies is very complementary to the existing Innospec range. Together, we would compete in a much larger part of the sector. With substantial assets in Europe from which to manufacture our existing and future products, the acquisition would form a springboard to continue Innospec’s successful development of innovative technology."
