Specialty chemical distributor Azelis acquires Ross Organic

19-Jan-2017 - Last updated on 19-Jan-2017 at 13:49 GMT

The deal will see Ross Organic and the team behind the company carry on as a distinct brand and puts Azelis squarely in the natural personal care and cosmetic ingredient business.

Ross Organic has been in the specialty chemical business for decades, developing product formulations and distributing ingredients for clients across the Western US. Stephanie Ross Leshney, co-owner and president of Ross Organic regards the Azelis deal a smart next step: “It is with great pride and enthusiasm that we join Azelis Americas, the leading specialty chemical distributor in North America,” she tells the press, adding “We are confident that this move will further strengthen Ross Organic’s customer and supplier capabilities, as well as ensure we remain the preeminent personal care distributor in the Western US.”

Ross Leshney calls “becoming part of Azelis…a huge step for the Ross family as we and our employees will celebrate our 30th year in business in 2017. We look forward to celebrating this milestone, and many more, with our new partners and the Azelis family.”

Personal care

Azelis is not new to the personal care, fragrance, or cosmetic ingredient market. But the company is intentionally growing in this sector, one Azelis has identified as a “specialty growth market.” Also, the company sees the Western States as a growth region for this particular business. “One of the pillars of our Personal Care strategy has been to focus on increasing our footprint in the US in the personal care space,” affirms Frank Bergonzi, CEO and president of Azelis Americas, in a press release about the deal. Acquiring Ross Organics, a well-established company in both the industry and the region, is then only logical.

Bergonzi goes on to explain that Azelis chose Ross Organic not simply because the company was in the right place at the right time. He calls Ross Organic “a proven leader in the sales and marketing of specialty products” and notes that the company has “the technical resources and lab facilities to be successful, which are also key elements to our value proposition.”

Precedent

In 2014 Azelis acquired The DeWolf Companies. That company, based in Rhode Island, distributed personal care and color cosmetics ingredients (as well as household, industrial, and institutional chemicals) throughout the States.

The company counts that acquisition as a success and one that can replicated with the Ross Organics deal. Ross Organics has headquarters in the opposite corner of the country, Los Angeles, California. All the same, Bergonzi believes “this acquisition affords us the extended reach and history of sustainable organic growth in a strategically important market segment.”