Ecolab has entered an agreement to acquire Purolite, a global provider of ion exchange resins for the separation and purification of solutions. The company says the acquisition is highly complementary to its current offering and vital for safe, drug production and biopharma product purification in the life sciences industries. Based in King of Prussia, PA, Purolite operates in more than 30 countries and employs approximately 1,000 people worldwide, with expected 2021 sales of approximately $0.4bn.
Purolite will operate as a separate global business unit and its overall results will be reported within Ecolab’s Life Sciences division. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory clearance and other customary closing conditions.
Christophe Beck, Ecolab’s president and CEO said: “With 2021 sales of $0.4 billion and mid-teens growth, Purolite is an acquisition that brings us a fast growing leader in biopharma and industrial purification solutions with very strong margins. With this transaction, we will significantly increase our opportunities in our high growth, high margin life sciences business, such as the purification of mRNA vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for cancer-treatment drugs.
“It provides another strong and adjacent global growth platform within Ecolab with double-digit growth prospects in both our life sciences and industrial markets. It opens up new opportunities for innovation, circle the customer sales opportunities and future M&A. This new growth platform will provide high end purification solutions that further improve the quality and safety of life-saving drugs, high quality foods and ultra-pure water for high tech industries. It also provides new solutions to further improve our water re-use and re-cycling offerings as well as innovative solutions to improve our environmental programs for customers, such as PFAS remediation.
“We are also truly excited by the unique talent, scientific expertise and new capabilities Purolite brings us to further improve our leadership positions and deliver continued strong shareholder returns.”
Steve Brodie, Purolite’s CEO said: “Over the last 40 years, with the support and contribution of our loyal, highly skilled workforce, we have built our company into a dynamic force within the industries and for the clients we serve. We are truly grateful to our employees and management team for supporting our vision and entrepreneurial spirit. My family and I are very confident that Ecolab can carry on these traditions. We are confident that Purolite will be in good hands and that our goals for high growth, innovation and quality will continue under Ecolab’s stewardship.”
