Brenntag SE is the holding company of Brenntag Group. The company was founded in 1874 in Berlin and specializes in the distribution of chemicals and ingredients. The company is headquartered in
Essen,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and has operations in more than 600 locations in 72 countries.
History
Founding
In 1874 Philipp Mühsam founded an egg wholesale business in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
which would later become Brenntag.
At that time, the company also distributed medicines. In 1912 Brenntag entered the chemicals distribution business.
World War II and post-war period
During the
Nazi regime
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, the Mühsam family immigrated to the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
to escape
Aryanization
Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...
. Due to this, they sold their company ''Brennstoff-Chemikalien und Transport AG'' to the entrepreneur Hugo Hermann Stinnes – son of
Hugo Stinnes
Hugo Dieter Stinnes (12 February 1870 – 10 April 1924) was a German industrialist and politician. During the late era of the German Empire and early Weimar Republic, he was considered to be one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Europe.
...
– in 1937.
One year later, he renamed the company to ''Brenntag'' and in 1943 moved the headquarters from Berlin to
Mülheim an der Ruhr, where ''Stinnes AG'' was headquartered.
In 1950, Brenntag expanded operations by adding
inorganic
In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemist ...
and
organic chemicals
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...
,
solvent
A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...
s,
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
s,
resin
In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...
s and specialty chemicals to its product line. In the following years, Brenntag also distributed
fuels (
carburettor fuels,
diesel fuel
Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and ...
and
heating oil) from ''Ruhrbau GmbH'', which was also a Stinnes company.
Expansion abroad and takeover
In 1969, Brenntag acquired its first company, ''Balder'' from
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and a year later business operations in the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
started. After this, the company accelerated growth worldwide, especially by selective acquisitions in key growth areas.
In the 1980s, the company continued to expand in the USA through acquisitions of several distribution companies, among others, the American distribution companies ''Western Chemical'' (1980), ''Textile Chemical'' (1981) and ''Delta'' (1986). In 1989, Brenntag acquired ''Crown'' and ''PB&S Chemicals''.
In the 1990s, Brenntag expanded within Europe through acquisitions and joint ventures.
This included, among others, the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
company ''Holland Chemical International N.V.'' By acquiring Holland Chemical International – the fifth-largest chemicals distributor worldwide at the time – in 2000 Brenntag gained market shares in
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
,
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
, and the USA, and became a market leader in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
.
In 2003,
Deutsche Bahn took over Stinnes AG, including Brenntag. Just one year later, US private equity firm
Bain Capital
Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...
acquired Stinnes. Until the end of 2003, Brenntag had been a stock corporation, before Bain Capital converted it into a
limited liability company
A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...
.
In 2006, Brenntag was acquired by
BC Partners
BC Partners is a British international investment firm with over $40 billion of assets under management across private equity, credit and real estate in Europe and North America. Its global headquarters are in London. The firm invests across all ...
.
IPO and acquisitions
![2U2A9329](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/2U2A9329.jpg)
After the takeover by BC Partners, Brenntag continued to acquire companies worldwide, expanding its network and market shares. From 2007 until 2021 the group acquired up to 99 companies,
between 2007 and 2010 alone more than 24 companies. In most cases, these were small supplements to the existing business in markets in which Brenntag had been less present until then.
Since 29 March 2010, Brenntag AG (WKN A1DAHH) is listed at the
German Stock Exchange
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time).
Organisation
Loca ...
in the Prime Standard Segment, from 21 June 2010 until September 2021 as a member of the
MDAX index. As of 20 September 2021, the company is included in the
DAX
Dax or DAX may refer to:
Business and organizations
* DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies
** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX
** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms
* Dax ...
as part of an index reform and expansion from 30 to 40 companies.
In the meantime, Brenntag has returned to 100%
free float
In the context of stock markets, the public float or free float represents the portion of shares of a corporation that are in the hands of public investors as opposed to locked-in shares held by promoters, company officers, controlling-interest inv ...
ownership.
Entry into Asian market and business expansion
Major acquisitions expanded operations in the
Asia/Pacific region. In 2008, Brenntag took over the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n company
Rhodia in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
, giving Brenntag the first distribution presence in the region. In 2010, Brenntag further expanded its market presence in the region significantly by acquiring ''EAC Industrial Ingredients Ltd.'' in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
.
In 2011, Brenntag established a joint venture with ''Zhong Yung International Chemical Ltd.'' in
China and in 2016 the company acquired the distributor ''EPChem Group'' in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
.
Due to capacity problems, in 2017, Brenntag moved its headquarters from Mülheim an der Ruhr, to the ''House of Elements'' in
Essen-Rüttenscheid. Further, in 2021, Brenntag was converted from a
stock corporation (AG) into a
Societas Europaea
A ''societas Europaea'' (, ; "European society" or "company"; plural: ; abbr. SE) is a public company registered in accordance with the corporate law of the European Union (EU), introduced in 2004 with the Council Regulation on the Statute f ...
(SE).
In 2021, further acquisitions took place, primarily of suppliers for food manufacturers.
A major acquisition in this regard was the takeover of ''JM Swank'' in the USA. With the purchase, Brenntag acquired a major food distributor in North America, extensively expanding its range of food ingredients.
Business operation
In 2022, the Group generated revenues of 19.4 billion euros and employed more than 17,500 people. Brenntag has around 600 sites in 72 countries.
Body of the company
Management Board
* Christian Kohlpaintner (CEO)
* Kristin Neumann
* Ewout van Jarwaarde
* Michael Friede
Supervisory Board
* Richard Ridinger (Chairman)
Shareholder structure
According to the definition of
Deutsche Börse
Deutsche Börse AG () or the Deutsche Börse Group, is a German company offering marketplace organizing for the trading of shares and other securities. It is also a transaction services provider. It gives companies and investors access to gl ...
, 100% of Brenntag shares are in
free float
In the context of stock markets, the public float or free float represents the portion of shares of a corporation that are in the hands of public investors as opposed to locked-in shares held by promoters, company officers, controlling-interest inv ...
. The shareholders subject to voting right notification are
BlackRock
BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with trill ...
(>5%),
Capital Group Companies, Inc. (>5%),
Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (>3%), ''Flossbach von Storch AG'' (>3%),
Wellington Management Group (>3%),
GIC Private Limited (>3%), ''Burgundy Asset Management'' (>3%), ''EuroPacific Growth Fund'' (>3%), ''Kühne Holding AG'' (>3%).
Business operations
Business model
Brenntag buys large quantities of industrial and specialty
chemicals
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...
from manufacturers, commissions them into required quantities to meet specific demand and sells them on to its customers. The company links
chemical producers and the
processing industry
Process manufacturing is a branch of manufacturing that is associated with formulas and manufacturing recipes, . Brenntag also handles the procurement, storage, and delivery of required basic materials for its customers as well as various processes such as mixing raw materials, packaging, or repackaging.
Part of Brenntag's business strategy is the acquisition, i.e., buying companies to strengthen its own market position and expand its portfolio.
Products
Brenntag's main operations include food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, oil and gas, and
water purification
Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for hu ...
.
Brenntag's product catalog includes more than 10,000 items ranging from acids, bases, and solvents to substances for the food, cosmetics, feed and pharmaceutical industries. The company also develops and supplies flavorings for spirits and food products.
In addition, Brenntag operates around 80 application laboratories, where customer-specific services and products are developed.
Business segments
Brenntag has been organized into two global businesses since 2021. ''Brenntag Essentials'' supplies process chemicals for broad application areas on a local level, while ''Brenntag Specialties'' concentrates on ingredients and services for selected focus industries such as pharmaceuticals and nutrition.
Controversy
Criticism of Brenntag arose in 2017 and again in 2021 because it supplied chemicals to Syria. At issue is the supply of raw materials for painkillers by Brenntag's Swiss-based subsidiary to the Syrian company MPI. Suspicions persist that the substances are used to manufacture chemical weapons such as sarin for
Syria's usage of chemical weapons. Brenntag repeatedly denied violating EU export restrictions.
Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
public prosecutor's office closed proceedings against Brenntag in August 2019.
References
External links
* (corporate)
* (customer)
*
{{Authority control
Companies established in 1874
Companies based in Essen
1874 establishments in Germany
Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
Companies in the DAX index