Solenis closes on acquisition of paper specialty chemicals business

SPECIALTY chemicals producer Solenis has closed on its acquisition of ChemSystems’ paper business, following an agreement signed in February.

ChemSystems, headquartered in South Africa, produces and supplies specialty chemicals for water-intensive industries, including pulp, paper, and tissue manufacturing industries in Sub-Saharan Africa. ChemSystems is owned by AECI, a diversified group of 16 companies. Prior to the acquisition, ChemSystems was Solenis’ pulp and paper specialty chemicals distributor in Africa.

The newly-acquired business will be integrated into Solenis as part of the company’s direct-to-market strategy.

According to John Panichella, CEO of Solenis, the acquisition represents a milestone in Solenis’ growth strategy as it continues to “clean up [its] channel to market following the merger with BASF’s Paper and Water business”.

In May 2018, BASF announced that its paper wet-end and water chemical business would merge with Solenis, into a company that would operate under the Solenis name. Solenis announced the successful merger in January 2019.