The East Asiatic Company Ltd. A/S has sold EAC Industrial Ingredients to the German Brenntag group for 1.2 billion Danish kroner.
When Brenntag has completed the take-over of The East Asiatic (Thailand) Public Company Ltd. where all the EAC Industrial Ingredients activities are located, the name “East Asiatic Company” will no longer be carried by any company in Thailand.
The history of the EAC can be traced back to 1884 when the Danish sea captain H. N. Andersen established a trading company in Bangkok at the Oriental Avenue and the name EAC has been almost synonymous with the strong relationship between Denmark and Thailand in the 126 years that has passed since then.
In a press release, EAC explains that instead of continuing to acquire more companies in the market to keep the growth momentum, EAC opts to sell its whole industrial ingredients business to the Brenntag group which is very strong globally but not so strong in Asia.
“EAC regards the price as highly satisfactory to EAC and its shareholders and considerably in excess of the probable value that could be created through continued ownership by EAC,” it says in the press release.
The transaction does not include EAC’s investments in the three associated companies Akzo Nobel Paints (Thailand) Ltd, Asiatic Acrylics Company Ltd and Thai Poly Acrylics Public Company Ltd.
The EAC believes the acquisition will benefit EAC Industrial Ingredients’ employees, suppliers and customers.
The Brenntag Group has issued its own Press Release about the acquisition. It says that the closing of the deal is expected in July. After that, the existing management team of EAC Industrial Ingredients will continue its succesful work under the Brenntag name.
As for the East Asiatic Company, the remaining business in Thailand will be the EAC Moving & Relocation Service which is operating under the Santa Fe brand.
EAC Chief Executive Niels Henrik Jensen said at a press briefing after the announcement, that the income from the sale would be spend on speeding up growth in its remaining business, including by acquisitions. Elaborating on this, he said acquiring a moving company in the USA was not interesting, but if an opportunity arose to expand by acquisition in Europe, it could be interesting.
