Albaugh Europe Sarl, a company headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, has acquired Industrias Afrasa, a company headquartered in Valencia, Spain, in an announcement made Dec. 29.
Afrasa was founded in 1955 by Aurelio Fernández in Valencia, Spain and in 1974 opened formulation facilities in Paterna near Valencia. In 1987, Javier Fernández took over the company, making it one of the leading Spanish crop protection companies. Now in it third generation and under the leadership of Arantxa Fernández, Afrasa has expanded its presence across Europe, North Africa and Middle East with more than 350 products registered in 28 countries.
“After three family generations dedicated to growing the project started by my grandfather when he decided to found a small chemical company called Afrasa in 1955, the family has had to face one of the hardest decisions that a business family has to make,” said Fernandez, CEO of Afrasa. “Afrasa’s integration with Albaugh, a global company and leader in the international market of phytosanitary products, is the perfect complement to carry out the growth and consolidation plans of Afrasa’s future project. All the Fernandez family, and especially myself, want to thank from the bottom of my heart all the effort, dedication, and professionalism of each one of the workers that during all these years have dedicated their efforts to make Afrasa’s project grow, without all of you we would never have reached this far.”
Stephen Karl, president of Albaugh’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa region said Afrasa’s growth has been impressive. “The Afrasa portfolio, mainly focused on Mediterranean crops, complements the Albaugh portfolio, and the Afrasa facilities in Spain will build upon the existing capabilities of our Slovenia facilities to support our rapidly growing business and continue the combined success.”
Kurt Pedersen Kaalund, Group CEO of Albaugh, said, “Together with the newly acquired Rotam business, Albaugh will now have a strong product portfolio in Europe and offer over 35 active ingredients at European level. We are very excited to welcome such a driven, entrepreneurial, innovative, and professional Afrasa team into the Albaugh Group and to have their support to achieve our vision to support farmers throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa with sustainable crop protection solutions.”
Headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa, Albaugh is the largest privately held supplier of crop protection products in the world. A sales price was not disclosed.
