Brenntag acquires remaining shares in Crest Chemicals

Brenntag announced the acquisition of the remaining 50 percent of the shares in Crest Chemicals Proprietary Limited (“Crest”), South Africa, from the AECI Limited (“AECI”, JSE AFE) Group of companies. Crest has been a 50:50 joint venture between Brenntag and AECI since 2001. Crest, based in Midrand/Johannesburg, is a distributor and reseller of chemicals to a broad range of South African industries including Industrial, Paint and Coatings, Food, as well as Mining and Water. In addition to products, support and services, the company offers technical solutions and formulation expertise to its customers. 

Transaction expected to be completed by the end of the year

Anthony Gerace, Brenntag Group’s Managing Director Mergers & Acquisitions: “We expect to realise cost synergies and convert cross selling opportunities by combining Crest and Brenntag South Africa since both companies have complementary product lines. In addition, Brenntag will benefit from Crest’s mixing & blending capabilities, a service that is increasingly requested by customers.” 

The acquired business generated sales of approximately 95 million Euro in the financial year ended 31 December 2018. Closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions precedent. It is expected to be finalised before the end of 2019.