Interview: “The transaction is much more complementary
Arxada completes the merger with Troy, creating a global leader in microbial control solutions and performance additives. Four question to Marc Doyle, CEO Arxada.
Why did you acquire Troy?
Marc Doyle: Even before we spun-off, we’ve always looked at Troy as a very well-respected competitor with a complementarity portfolio, in particular IPBC actives. Also, the regional balance brings synergies. They bring five key sites to the table, two of these are in North America, where we also have a good footprint. And they also have sites in Europe, in the Netherlands and in Germany. Troy’s site in Thailand helps us in the APAC region because it is clearly is a growth region for us.
Will the acquisition lead to site closures due to an overlap?
Doyle: I think the transaction is much more complementary. Troy has a really nice footprint geographically with major manufacturing and R&D sites in the U.S., Europe and Asia. There are all in good locations and well positioned. We had no footprint in Germany, so that will be a much more convenient location for serving customers. Troy’s footprint in Thailand is also very well positioned for Southeast Asia compared to our footprint. Also the locations in the U.S. are complementary to our operations.
Araxda just spun-off and rebranded and already announced two acquisitions. Will you keep that pace?
Doyle: We did not intend to do two acquisitions in the first year. It was just fortuitous. It worked out because these companies became available, largely driven by the age of their founders. Timing is everything. I think 2022 will be a year of absorbing what we’ve done and progressing our execution plans. We’ve got still significant work to do on separating from Lonza. We’ve got work to do on our internal transformation programme and now we’ve got integration of two acquisitions. I wouldn’t expect any major announcements from us in the foreseeable future, but maybe in a year.
How do you rate the ongoing consolidation in the market?
Doyle: There’s consolidation in the market. We see companies are combining their businesses or acquiring competitors, as we do. There are several recent examples and we think this trend will continue. The paint companies are acquiring a lot and the industry is consolidating. The suppliers are also undergoing some consolidations. There will remain multiple suppliers and by multiple I mean a dozen suppliers of every primary ingredient.
This interview is part of a longer article on the acquisition in the February issue of the European Coatings Journal.
