Azelis, a leading global innovation service provider in the specialty chemical and food ingredients industry, announces the acquisition of MH in South Korea, a reputable local distributor in the food ingredients market.

Azelis’ already strong presence in the personal care market will be complemented by MH’s foothold in these new market segments. 

Established in 2005 and headquartered in Seoul, MH is a reputable local distributor of food ingredients such as gluten, starches, sweeteners, and functional food ingredients. MH is a family business owned by Maeng Moon-Ho, who will remain in post and support integration of MH into Azelis.

With this acquisition, Azelis is broadening its offering in the highly attractive and expanding innovative food market of South Korea, with its 51 million inhabitants and a high GDP per capita.

Maeng Moon-Ho, Founder and Managing Director, MH said, “We are very grateful for the presence we were able to build in the South Korean food market and excited about the opportunity to continue to expand our business under Azelis’ ownership by leveraging its global principal relationships. Becoming part of the Azelis family will secure our future in South Korea, supported by Azelis platforms in areas such as digital, sustainability and regulatory.”

Laurent Nataf, CEO & President, Azelis Asia Pacific said, “As Azelis already has a solid food presence in other countries in Asia Pacific, this new acquisition will further improve our food footprint in the region. This in turn opens up the opportunity to expand our lateral value chain for food in South Korea and to attract new mandates from Azelis’ Asia-Pacific food & health principals. Our presence in South Korea has been predominantly in personal care until now, so this acquisition also provides excellent complementarity and diversification into the food market.”

The acquisition of MH illustrates the support provided by EQT since the initial acquisition of Azelis. EQT is confident that the expanded range of services and global reach provided by this acquisition will continue to bring benefits to customers and principals of the combined group.