Biolchim Group ″marries″ Huber Corporation

The Biolchim Group has entered the orbit of US firm JM Huber Corporation, but as a protagonist. The two companies intend to collaborate by sharing their respective experiences while preserving their individual entrepreneurial characteristics, as well as sharing their product portfolios, research, and markets. Terra e Vita asked the CEO of the Biolchim Group, Leonardo Valenti, about how this partnership will work and what will the agreement bring to the fertilizer sector.

Leonardo Valenti, CEO of the Biolchim Group

Biolchim, which for some years had portrayed itself as an ″Italian fertilizer leader,″ will pass into the hands of the American company, JM Huber Corporation. After this happens, can Biolchim continue to maintain this title?

We are an Italian group, but also supported by international funds, and we intend to maintain our identity. However, we received the opportunity to join an American group, so we can acquire a greater international scope.

The concept of Italianness lies in national identity, which will now be supported by solid foreign capital, as it was not possible to find Italian capital. And then, when you reach a certain size, it is difficult to remain confined to the national sphere. Also, when you reach a certain level, Italian capital passes into foreign hands, but this is the effect of globalization.

Our choice was clear, we wanted an industrial partner that we can count on with a certain level of stability and can offer opportunities for future choices, so, therefore, a long-term consolidation.

The Biolchim Group contains several companies that all have considerable experience, including Italian Cifo and ilsa, which are well known for their specialist product ranges.

Of course, to grow you must be willing to give up absolute power over your company, as well as question yourself, to operate effectively at international level. Of course, market movements will rapidly change, and there will be many acquisitions and mergers within five to six years. On the other hand, to conduct research and grow, adequate resources are required, which can only be guaranteed with adequate critical mass.

What prompted JM Huber Corporation to make this acquisition?

We have been growing significantly for 15 years, and this is a fundamental factor for attracting capital, which will enable us to grow further and more rapidly.

Will brands and personnel remain the same? What will change in the short-term for Biolchim?

The acquisition affected not only brands but also people, who are the ones who made the company successful, and on whom it will focus for future expansion. Therefore, the winning team has not changed.

At the same time, we must acknowledge the fact that brands, which have made history in the sector and represent a specific asset, are especially important.

There will not be any substantial changes, but the more a group grows the more complex it becomes to integrate all factors that facilitate the effective utilization of resources.

What synergies will develop soon?

We are already working on various fronts with synergies on purchasing in commercial and research areas, but the most important work to be done is the integration of corporate culture and communications.

We have already foreseen the cross-selling of the products of the two brands to complete our product portfolio. There will also be an exchange of production, as well as many activities that we are currently developing. But we are still at the beginning, and we are exploring many other possibilities.

We already have four to five projects in progress, which involve an important critical mass but, we will talk about these later.

Can you inform us of any current news? Or is it too early to announce them?

Like I said, there are many activities we are working on while we are still working on concluding the financial transaction. Therefore, it is premature to overreact. However, I can say that we immediately exchanged dossiers on companies that could be of interest to both of us. We are also exchanging our expertise in our markets. We work in 70 countries, 50 of them we have in common. Our aim is to always identify new, concrete, and sustainable solutions.

The strategic combination between Biolchim and Huber is highly synergistic, as the two companies have complementary commercial production organizations, as well as leading technologies and research capabilities in the sector.

Will fertilization remain your core business?

An entire range of plant nutrition products remains our core business, which involves the search for increasingly efficient solutions. We aim to specialize in areas we already do well and give us an important competitive advantage over our competitors.