Rhodia acquisition increases Asia-Pacific surfactants footprint

More than half of Feixiang’s sales of amines and surfactants are realised in the Home and Personal care market segment, Rhodia said, and the company plans to integrate Feixiang’s specialty amine technologies into its Novecare business portfolio.

Increasing footprint in Asia-Pacific​

After the acquisition is complete, approximately one third of Rhodia’s sales will be realised in Asia-Pacific region , the company said.

“With this acquisition, Asia becomes the second largest zone (31 per cent) for Rhodia Novecare,”​ Oliver Hufer, vice president of Rhodia Novecare’s Home & Personal Care division told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.

Hufer added that Asia-Pacific is a fast-growing region for the surfactants market, which is growing at approximately 10 per cent in developing countries such as China and India, and at a lesser rate of around 3 per cent in countries such as Japan and Australia.

Aim to double business size ​

Rhodia chairman and CEO, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, said that there are plans to double the size of the acquired business over the next five years.

“The growth revenues will be driven by strong synergies in terms of both the product and customer portfolio, such as accelerating the international market penetration of Feixiang’s products thanks to Rhodia Novecare’s global network,” ​said Hufer.

“In addition, the Rhodia expertise and know-how in formulation and applications will offer strong cross-selling opportunities for Feixiang products serving strategic Rhodia markets such as Home and Personal Care,” ​he added.

Headquartered in Zhangjiagang, near Shanghai, with around 650 employees, Feixiang has achieved top line growth of 20 per cent on average over the past five years, according to Rhodia.

The acquisition price is based on an enterprise value of $489m (€397m) for 100 per cent of Feixiang Chemicals(approximately nine times the EBITDA value), said Rhodia, although the current majority owner will hold 12.5 per cent of the capital for the next two years.