Kersia acquires Holchem to become Europe's second largest food safety company
Through the deal, Kersia becomes the second largest player in Europe. Holchem will join Kersia’s global operations platform that spans Northern Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and China. The Holchem acquisition is being supported by additional capital from private investment company Ardian.
Holchem is a provider of hygiene and food safety solutions and technology in the UK. A large majority of the company’s sales are directed to the food, beverage and dairy industries, with additional sales to the food service, retail, institutional and farm sectors.
With a turnover of approximately €55m ($67.8m), Holchem operates from two industrial sites located in Bury and Liphook, primarily serving the UK market.
Kersia was formed as a new company in 2016 after Hypred acquired Antigerm, LCB Food Safety, G3, Kilco and Choisy Laboratories. Following the acquisition, Kersia will operate in more than 120 countries with a workforce of more than 1,500 people and a turnover of more than €300m ($333m).
Sébastien Bossard, CEO of Kersia, said, “This merger will enable us to make new solutions and services available to Kersia's customers throughout the world, and in the same way, will provide Holchem's local teams and customers with Kersia's solutions to help combat contamination by pathogens of the food chain in one of the world's largest food processing regions."
Stuart Middleton, managing director of Holchem, said, “Over the years, Holchem has built a prominent position in the hygiene and food safety solutions market in the UK and Ireland thanks to its comprehensive and innovative offering. We can be proud of what our managers and employees have achieved.
“We are very excited to join the Kersia Group of companies, which has become a global leader in food safety in a few years, and we look forward to contributing to Kersia Group’s growth, both in our home markets and globally. We believe that this important transaction will bring many opportunities to all our employees and our customers in the combined organization.”
