International company Industrial Commodities Holdings (ICH) has finalised the sale of the ICH fertiliser business to Fertiva, an entity which is now majority-owned by German fertiliser supplier K+S Group.

The K+S Group will operate the acquired fertiliser business under the Fertiva name.

ICH notes that its decision to sell the fertiliser business was not based on slowing demand, but rather on it changing its focus.

The ICH portfolio and offerings have evolved over the years to include mining and industrial chemicals, road and construction supplies, flexible packaging, products for cable manufacturing, polymers, paper, agricultural products and foodstuffs.

ICH board members Heinrich van Wyk and Peter Wales will remain on the board of ICH. Three new ICH board members join them from the ranks of the current senior leadership team, namely George Wood, Gavin Fell and Craig Lloyd.

ICH CFO Wood joined ICH in 2011 and leads the company's finance functions.

Fell previously worked for ICH in the 1990s and re-joined in 2014. He heads the chemical division with Wales.

Lloyd joined materials handling product supplier Bordic in 2010 and ICH in 2011 when ICH acquired Bordic.

Former ICH board member Jaco Raath is leaving ICH to join Fertiva as part of the closing of the transaction. As part of the transaction, the entire ICH fertiliser team joined Fertiva, with Kali-Union (a member of the K+S Group) as the majority shareholder.

Raath and another former ICH shareholder, who previously managed the ICH fertiliser business, will hold 25% of Fertiva's shares.

ICH distributed K+S Group fertilisers across Southern Africa for over 40 years – in addition to products from other manufacturers – since signing an agency agreement in 1980 to represent the K+S Group in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We wish the new owners the very best with this new beginning. We trust that the agricultural industry can rely on the same or better service than they became accustomed to under the ICH brand,” enthuses ICH.

ICH bought back all ICH shares from its previous shareholders Raath, Bakkies van Zyl and Anton Goosen, who are members of the fertiliser team joining Fertiva. They no longer have any shares in ICH and are no longer representing the company.