Atrium spins off active ingredients division

The newly created business identity is owned by the management team and the AXA Private Equity Investment fund, which bought up the business at the beginning of April. Unipex was originally bought up by Atrium in 2001, and has traded as a subsidiary of the Active Ingredient & Specialty Chemicals Division since then. Management and HQ unchanged ​ The company will also retain several key members of the management team and will remain headquartered in Quebec City, Canada, under the leadership of its current CEO and president Charles Boulanger. Unipex Group aims to build on its existing business, which means it is already present in 50 countries, mainly in Asia, North America and Europe, where it also serves the pharmaceutical, industrial chemical and nutrition industries. In 2007 the firm achieved sales in excess of $220m, driven by a portfolio that includes more than 2,000 products. Trading under three divisions ​ The Unipex Group will trade under three separate division: Unipex Innovations, which will concentrate on actives for cosmetics; Unipex Solutions France, which will focus on services for the French and European markets; and Unipex Canada, which will also focus Canada. Boulanger said that the spin-off will allow the company to consolidate its operations and provide a strategic advantage within the market place. "This grouping under a single brand will help create a more uniform relationship with our clients and promote stronger synergy among our teams,"​ adding that the move would help "increase our ability to innovate, and thus realize the full potential of our strategic plan." ​Atrium to focus on health and nutrition ​ As a result of the spin-off Atrium will be concentrating its business operations in the health and nutrition market, describing itself as a 'health and nutrition pure-play'. The company confirmed that it had spun off its active ingredients division last week, when it said that the division had been sold for $166.4m. Atrium said that the proceeds from the sale would be used to grow its business in the health and nutrition areas, thanks to the greater flexibility provided by the sale of the actives division.