MAT Holding, a Catalan family group chaired by Pau Relat, has reached an agreement to buy Bayer’s phytosanitary products factory in Valencia, for an amount that has not been made public.
The Catalan group, specialized in solutions for agriculture and water, buys the factory through its subsidiary Industrias Químicas del Vallés (IQV) and has promised to keep the factory operational and employment conditions for a year and a half from from the date you complete the purchase, in June 2024.
The operation was announced this morning in a joint statement, which states that the factory, located in Quart de Poblet, employs a hundred people, and that MAT will assume those directly and indirectly related to production, while those who work for other company areas will be relocated by Bayer. The factory was now operating below full capacity “due to market changes and Bayer’s strategic focus.”
IQV buys the plant to increase its production capacity and boost its diversification strategy towards products with low environmental and human health impact. IQV is already a supplier to the main multinationals in the sector, and already has a formulation and packaging plant in the Valencian Community, in Cheste. Until June 2024 Bayer will remain the owner of the center and will work with IQV to make the transition.
Founded in 1935, IQV specializes in plant health products based on copper salts. The firm had a turnover of 144 million euros last year, with sales in 70 countries. The group has two factories in Spain, in Mollet del Vallés and in Cheste, and subsidiaries in Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Morocco, Chile and El Salvador.
MAT Holding had a turnover of 364 million euros last year, with headquarters in Spain and Israel, sales in 140 countries and more than 1,000 employees worldwide.
In addition to IQV, the holding also includes the companies Regaber, for professional irrigation, and VEGGA, for digital crop management and farm modernization. The group’s brands include Aquestia (liquid handling and control), STF, for filtration, and Hidroglobal, dedicated to hydraulic projects.
