Azelis Acquires CosBond

Azelis, a distributor of specialty chemicals and food ingredients, has signed an agreement to acquire 100% shares of CosBond, a Chinese specialty chemicals and food ingredients distributor. Headquartered in Hong Kong, CosBond represents over 30 renowned global principals, predominantly in the personal care industry, followed by flavor & fragrance, food & nutrition and fine chemistry.
 
Highlights & rationale
 
The acquisition of CosBond will enhance the position of Azelis in the Chinese personal care market and will further increase its customer intimacy with global and regional market leaders. With the rapidly increasing middle class population and a fast-growing personal care industry, China is a strategic market for Azelis. The transaction, consistent with Azelis’ corporate strategy of complementing organic growth with strategic acquisitions, is expected to be completed within the next three months.
 
CosBond was established in 2008 and over time has built a strong market position in the personal care market. The company works with blue chip principals and has an excellent customer base. It serves more than 500 customers, ranging from major multinationals to smaller local producers, all seeking specialty products that bring added value to their brand. The employees of CosBond will become part of the Azelis team.
 
“Azelis China has enjoyed a steady growth since its inception in 2013 and has grown to become one of the main international players in the Chinese distribution industry,” commented Laurent Nataf, CEO & president, Azelis Asia Pacific. “We run five application laboratories in Shanghai, including one for personal care which has had noteworthy achievements; it has won no less than 11 innovation awards in the last five years, all given by independent industry bodies. We are very excited to be able to now extend this vast technical knowledge to CosBond’s principals and customers.”
 
“We have had a very strong commercial presence on the market and have built a significant customer base, but the strong formulation and application support that Azelis can offer will bring a lot of added value in our offering to the market,” said Jerome Cheung, strategic director at CosBond. “We will also benefit from Azelis’ strong international infrastructure and access to additional customers and suppliers, as well as an increased focus on corporate social responsibility, something which is key in serving the personal care industry. We are also excited about the wider geographic reach we will be having. In short, we see many growth synergies and we are confident that we are entering a thriving new chapter in the history of our company.”