Since Arkema acquired Bostik in 2015, the latter has pursued a sustained strategy of growth through acquisitions. What is the overall vision guiding this approach?
Fernando Accioly-Menezes – Arkema enjoys a robust financial position with margins that support its aim to achieve external growth in specialty materials. Bostik is helping to spearhead this development. Some of the markets in which we operate are still very fragmented, with a lot of small and medium-sized players, some of which are extremely successful. This is particularly true for our businesses in Consumer & Construction (adhesives and mastics for construction, DIY) and Durable Goods (bonding solutions for industry, transport, aeronautics, domestic appliances, etc.), which have been the focus of most of our recent acquisitions. We adapt our strategy to the scale of each business activity by seeking out companies that offer good complementarity in terms of their offering or regional coverage, and if possible, both, allowing opportunities for us to supply a wider range of solutions.
LIP and Ideal Works, which both joined our Consumer & Construction business activity in 2020, are good examplesof this.
Fernando Accioly-Menezes : Absolutely. LIP is a great brand. It is number one in Denmark in tile adhesives, and in floor sealants and preparation, with very high-quality products and a good reputation among professionals. It will allow us to break into the Danish market while leveraging our channels to boost its exports, particularly to Sweden where we have a high profile. As for the Italian company Ideal Works, which also operates in flooring, it rounds out our offering with its decorative concrete technology and its established high-end position in Italy, which we will now focus on deploying internationally.
In July, you finalized the acquisition of the Belgian company Fixatti. How does this transaction fit into the strategy for your Durable Goods business?
Fernando Accioly-Menezes : It adds another string to our bow in the field of specialty hotmelts, which have been booming. These thermobonding solutions offer many benefits. They are solventfree, some types can be bio-based, and they offer improved recyclability and reduced weight due to the replacement of mechanical fixings. With 180 employees and three production sites in Europe and China, Fixatti is in a strong position in the field of thermobonding adhesive powders. Its acquisition follows that of Prochimir in 2019, with its adhesive film technologies. Both operations allowed us to increase our critical mass in specialty hotmelts, access new markets, and offer a wider range of industrial solutions.
In December, Bostik invested $11 million to create the CMC joint venture with Taiwanese company Cartell. Can you tell us more?
Fernando Accioly-Menezes : This was more of a prospective investment, after the acquisition of the Spanish startup Afinitica in 2018, with which Cartell was already doing business. It was designed to implement an innovative production process for the manufacture of cyanoacrylate monomers used in the formulation of fastcure, high-performance and odorless adhesives for various applications in the engineering adhesives sector such as consumer electronics and microassembly. This is also a growth market with high demands in terms of industrial performance.
