Barentz Acquires DIVSA in Central America

March 16, 2022

Hoofddorp, The Netherlands – Barentz International, a global life science ingredients distributor, announced today that it has acquired Distribuciones Industriales Variadas, S.A. ("Divsa" or the "Business"), Central America's leading value-add distributor of life science ingredients and specialty chemicals. With locations across Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panama, Divsa represents the ideal fit to bridge Barentz' well-established presence in North and South America. The team will continue to be led by Mario Mena, Divsa's President & Founder, and the headquarters will remain in Guatemala City.

Highlights:

Dedicated commercial and technical teams serving targeted end-markets including personal care, home care, flavors & fragrances, food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, coatings, and polyurethanes
Value-add operational services, including in-house blending, repackaging and transportation assets, combine to offer customers unmatched service-levels
Coverage across Central America bridges Barentz' leading positions in North and South America
Multiple in-house laboratories and technical service teams are highly complementary to Barentz' global network of more than 30 laboratories across 4 continents
Portfolio of blue-chip product lines provide the opportunity for further expansion of strategic supplier relationships

Hidde van der Wal, CEO of Barentz, commented: "We are thrilled to welcome Mario and his team to the Barentz organization and immediately establish a market leading presence in the Central American region. Divsa has an impressive track record of delivering results for its key stakeholders and we are excited to leverage our combined capabilities to create better solutions that enable sustained success for our customers, principals and employees across LATAM."

Mario Mena, President of Divsa, added: "From the beginning, our goal was to establish Divsa as a scalable, differentiated distributor that would be a sustainable home for our employees, customers, and suppliers. Given Barentz' global footprint, entrepreneurial culture, and proven track-record of successful partnerships with independent businesses, I saw a combination with Barentz as the best way to ensure and continue Divsa's mission long into the future."

ABOUT DIVSA
Divsa, founded in 1996 by Mario Mena and Enrique Reising, is a specialty distributor of raw materials offering its customers and suppliers with a comprehensive suite of technical and operational services. With sales and operational coverage extending across Central America and the Caribbean, Divsa leverages dedicated commercial teams to service customers in the personal care, home care, food & beverage, flavors & fragrances, coatings, and polyurethane markets.

ABOUT BARENTZ
Barentz is a leading global life science ingredients distributor. The company sources branded specialty ingredients from leading manufacturers worldwide and its ingredient experts provide value-added technical support which includes pre-mixing, blending, ingredient formulation and ingredient testing from its state-of-the-art, customized formulation centers and application laboratories in EMEA, Americas and Asia-Pacific.

Established in 1953, Barentz has operations in more than 60 countries with a strong presence in Europe and North America, and a rapidly growing network in Latin America and Asia-Pacific. With a turnover of €1.85 billion, the company employs around 1,750 people worldwide and serves over 21,000 customers. For more information, visit: www.barentz.com

For more information, please contact:
Marcel Hölscher
Global Head of Marketing & Communication
marcel.holscher@barentz.com
+31 (0)23 567 34 56