For each of the past 10 years, we at Solenis have endeavored to grow, adapt and reformulate ourselves to the benefit of our customers, employees and our society. And 2024 was no exception.
Last year, we focused on creating one new company. We completed the integration of Diversey Holdings, Ltd. – our largest acquisition to date – making Solenis a more diversified company with significantly increased scale, broader global reach and a “one-stop shop” suite of solutions for our customers. We acquired CedarChem, LLC, which distributes water and wastewater treatment products for industrial and municipal markets. We acquired Aqua ChemPacs, LLC, which enables our Institutional Solutions business customers to forego plastic bottles. Our acquisitions of Lilleborg and Predictive Food Safety Solutions, LLC allows Diversey to expand into new markets and offer food and beverage customers an expanded product portfolio. Lastly, we announced the imminent acquisition of BASF’s flocculant business for mining applications.
We quickly and efficiently integrated these businesses into our company during the course of the year. And, over the past decade, the 21 acquisitions that we made are all clear tributaries to a new Solenis. As such, it was fitting that during 2024, we adopted new vision, mission and values statements; and, we created and launched a new brand for our company.
This bold new look heralds the next era in our progression, and today we stand as a strong, diversified, worldwide brand forging a path that leads customers to achieve their operational and sustainability goals.
Together, as we move ahead, we have one clear way forward. At Solenis, we aim to ride the waves of four key macro-trends to leverage our new size and capabilities to not only grow the company, but through our customers, make a real and lasting positive impact on the world.
These trends include:
- Increased consumption of drinking water that requires greater conservation and recycling
- The need to better safeguard food and beverages in order to protect human health
- Continued emphasis on cleanliness and hygiene
- Growing consumer demand for fiber packaging that replaces single-use plastics.
As you can see, the common stream within all of these trends is water, which from the very beginning has been Solenis’ sweet spot.
These macro-trends underpin a new, comprehensive and circumspect growth strategy for our company that includes new markets, new applications, cross-selling and most importantly, a renewed focus on innovation. Furthermore, we are committed to the tenets of sustainability as a growth framework.
We are setting new sustainability goals, key performance indicators (KPIs) and are preparing for greater transparency through the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
As I look to the future, I believe that we have one bright tomorrow, and that our greatest strength is the uniqueness of our “+C” mentality, which means that we do what we do ultimately for our customers. Having said that, it is actually the “ripple effect” of our customer focus that benefits the world at large. It’s through these ripples that we at Solenis believe that we have a critical role to play in helping to address the world’s water problems, protecting our resources and preserving our planet.
We have our work cut out for us and we know we must address our weaknesses while we capitalize on our strengths. We must redouble our efforts regarding safety, and we must invest in innovation and we must accelerate our ability to bring digital solutions to our customers. Lastly, we need to continue to focus on reducing our carbon footprint while we explore effective bio-processes.
To succeed, we must also invest in our people and our culture. Over the last decade, our culture has continued to grow stronger, because we are more and more diverse. To reach our goals, we need to continue the progress we are making toward doubling our diversity.
Ultimately, we believe that if we take care of our customers; if we take care of business; if we take care of our people; if we take care of our planet and its resources; if we take care of our neighbors throughout the world; then our success and sustainability will inevitably take care of itself.
I am very excited about our prospects in 2025, and beyond, as we leverage our new capabilities. We are more than 16,000 strong, operating in 160 countries, and offering an innovative and sustainable product portfolio that is second to none. I would like to thank the Solenis employees for everything they do every day to make our company stronger and our world a better place. And so, to all of you, I ask, please take care.
John E. Panichella
Chief Executive Officer
