A Message From Our CEO
People → Culture. Performance → Innovation. Results → Execution.
At Solenis, our organic and inorganic growth continue to drive our company forward at a remarkable pace. In 2023, we completed, and are now integrating, the acquisition of Diversey Holdings, Ltd. This merger makes Solenis a more diversified company with significantly increased scale, broader global reach and the ability to offer a "one-stop shop" suite of solutions to our customers. Together, we have a strong foundation from which to leverage our strong customer partnerships, leading-edge innovation and value-added services to propel Solenis’ aggressive global growth trajectory.
In addition, in 2023, we acquired the Grand Invest Group which gives us a base in Peru and expands our Latin American reach with industrial customers. We completed the acquisition of the paper process chemicals business of Kolb Distribution Ltd., which expanded our offerings in Europe and enhanced our R&D capabilities. And in October, we announced the acquisition of CedarChem LLC which distributes water and wastewater treatment products for industrial and municipal markets, primarily in the southeastern U.S.
As we grow, Solenis is significantly enhancing its capabilities to help our customers tackle critical sustainability challenges, reduce their environmental impact and help create a cleaner, safer world. It’s why we’re here. And it’s why our 16,100 dedicated employees come to work and bring their best efforts each and every day.
Throughout the year, we maintained our focus on people, performance and results. Our culture continued to evolve and strengthen. We again attained high engagement scores as measured in our annual employee survey. Our work on diversity, equity and inclusion continues to expand. And in 2023, we placed particular emphasis on learning and development by implementing and making great progress towards our goal of having each Solenis employee dedicate 5% of their working time to training and learning. The quality of our people is what will drive our long-term future and sustainability.
We are increasing our emphasis on innovation, and focusing our R&D attention and resources on markets with above average growth expectations that will improve our performance. These include cellulose fiber products that are compostable, recyclable and reduce single-use plastics; food and beverage applications that reduce costs and improve food safety; and wastewater treatment processes that improve the quality and safety of our drinking water. In addition, we are growing our capabilities through new R&D laboratories and customer support centers.
Solenis continues to demonstrate disciplined execution on its businesses which translates into continued strong financial results. 2023 marks Solenis’ fourth consecutive year of double-digit earnings growth. We are operating with a profitability profile consistent with being a specialty chemical leader, all the while adding and integrating diverse businesses and contending with external factors such as inflation, supply chain disruptions, and socio-economic unrest.
The overlap and integration of our business and our sustainability efforts is extensive and cannot be overstated. As the world’s consumption of water continues to grow faster than the size of an already enlarging population, water conservation becomes a more and more dire problem every day. Water runs through everything. At Solenis, we believe that we have a critical role to play in helping to address this problem, protect our resources and preserve our planet.
We certainly have our challenges and obstacles. Our safety performance in 2023 was lackluster, and we need to recommit ourselves to continuous improvement in this area. But overall, I am pleased with our 2023 performance, and would like to thank the Solenis employees for everything they do every day to make our company better and our world cleaner and safer. We have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility. But I know we are on the right path, and making significant – and sustainable – progress.
John E. Panichella
Chief Executive Officer
