A difficult decision is what José Luis Díaz-Varela, president and founder of Grupo Indukern, has had to make. The veteran businessman announced today the sale of 100% of the company that gave rise to his business conglomerate: the chemical products distributor Indukern. The buyer has been the Luxembourg-based multinational Ravago, which with this operation will advance in its strategy to become a leader in the distribution of products for manufacturers of food, flavors, fragrances, and pharmaceutical and animal nutrition products.
The company now being transferred to Ravago is one of the leaders in Spain in the commercialization and distribution of chemical products for multiple sectors. It invoiced more than 350 million euros in 2019 ---half of the sales of the entire group--- and has a workforce of 520 employees, of whom 171 are in Spain; the sale also includes Indukern's subsidiaries in Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Mexico, Portugal, and Switzerland.
The Díaz-Varela family highlights that Ravago is also a family group, an element that weighed in the choice of buyer. "They have values, a company culture, and a way of working very similar to those of Grupo Indukern; we believe it is a great opportunity for the professionals who are part of Indukern because they will be able to continue growing in a business group with a solid future project," said the president.
Ravago Group is a leading distributor of polymers and chemical products and also operates in the plastic and rubber recycling business, in addition to manufacturing construction materials. It employs more than 7,000 people and operates in 55 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and America.
The Indukern Group will now focus its efforts on Kern Pharma and Calier. With a plant in Terrassa and a turnover of more than 300 million, Kern Pharma manufactures generic drugs and also over-the-counter drugs with its own brand, in addition to producing specialties for other laboratories. The company, led by Raúl Díaz-Varela, a member of the second generation, also owns Actafarma and has other brands such as Gynea (women's health) and Finisher (sports nutrition). In parallel, Calier is a veterinary laboratory based in Les Franqueses del Vallès that also has production centers in León, Morocco and Colombia, with sales exceeding 65 million.