Samyang Holdings announces Verdant Specialty Solutions acquisition

04-Jan-2024 - Last updated on 04-Jan-2024 at 16:33 GMT

"This move is in line with Samyang Group's push to strengthen its specialty business interests and accelerate its global operations as the group aims to achieve an annual revenue of KRW 6 trillion (approximately USD 4.6 billion) by 2025," said the company's press release. © Pinkypills Getty Images

The $250 million acquisition will strengthen Samyang Group's personal care product ingredient manufacturing portfolio and support global market expansion efforts.

Korean heritage global conglomerate Samyang Holdings has announced its acquisition of management rights for US-based specialty chemicals manufacturer Verdant Specialty Solutions as part of Samyang Group's long-term growth strategy "Vision 2025."

The $250 million acquisition from private equity firm OpenGate Capital aligns with the Group's "aim of expanding our specialty business and global market share by refining the business structure," said a Samyang Holdings spokesperson. The company's press announcement detailed that "Samyang Group is anticipating synergy and strengthened competitiveness between Verdant and KCI based on their complementary product portfolios."

Leading up to the acquisition

Samyang Group entered the personal care specialty ingredient market in 2017 with its acquisition of Korean company KCI which "sells cationic surfactants for natural-based/natural hair conditioning agent, polyquaternium-10 for hair conditioning shampoo, a bio-friendly material called methacryloyloxyethyl phosphoryl choline (MPC) that mimics the cell membranes of the skin and various ingredients for hair and skincare products," the Samyang Holdings spokesperson explained.

Since then, KCI "has succeeded in being the second in the world to commercialize the product, and it is being utilized in various areas such as cosmetics, contact lenses, and medical devices," the Samyang Holdings spokesperson said. More recently, the company has "advanced into the high value-added market with enhanced biodegradable and functional products," they added.

Samyang & Verdant

Samyang Holdings decided to acquire management rights for Verdant Specialty Solutions to "strengthen related business and pave the way for substantial global expansion," said the company's spokesperson.

Due to Verdant's "diverse client base of over 1,000 customers worldwide, including global personal care brands like Unilever and L'Oréal," the spokesperson explained, the company "accounts for about 13% of the amphoteric surfactant market in the U.S. and Europe," and "has production bases in the U.S., U.K., and Germany," making Verdant an ideal option for Samyang Holdings to accomplish its goals for growth and expansion, the spokesperson shared.

Therefore, they continued, by "leveraging Verdant's network, production facilities, and expertise, we aim to expand our business into the global personal care ingredients market while enlarging the sales scope of Verdant's flagship items in the Asian market."

The acquisition fits neatly into Samyang Holdings' existing portfolio, they added, and "with KCI focusing on cationic surfactants, we anticipate synergy and strengthened competitiveness between Verdant and KCI based on their complementary product portfolios."

Growth and expansion through 'Vision 2025'

As Korea's leading ingredients company, Samyang Group is "pursuing a mid- to long-term growth strategy, 'Vision 2025,' with the aim of expanding our specialty business and global market share by refining the business structure," shared the company's spokesperson.

Therefore, "we are fostering various materials in the health and wellness, semiconductor, secondary battery, and eco-friendly sectors across our group while preparing to take another leap forward into the next 100 years under Vision 2025," they explained.

The Verdant acquisition is the first step into Samyang Group's long-term plans to "enter the global surfactant market in earnest and expand the specialty surfactant business for home and personal care; industrial applications like oil & gas, paints and coating and agriculture; food; and pharmaceuticals," the spokesperson shared further.

Additionally, the company will remain committed to "delivering solutions and technical services to customers in the cosmetic and personal care industry," they said.

Currently, the spokesperson continued, "we have differentiated technologies in chemical (centered around polycarbonate for automotive engineering plastic materials), food (with alternative sweeteners like allulose), and biopharmaceuticals (with biodegradable sutures), and exports these materials to the U.S.," however, next steps for the company's growth strategy include strengthening "our eco-friendly specialty materials business and thereby reinforce our position in the U.S.," they concluded.