M. Holland Co. (Northbrook, IL), a leader in resin distribution, has partnered up with chemical supplier Grupo Solquim of Mexico City to form a joint business venture called M. Holland Latinoamérica.

Ed Holland, M. Holland President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “M. Holland Latinoamérica will be the platform for our aggressive growth plans in Mexico and Latin America. This expansion is in strategic alignment with the needs of our suppliers and gives us more solutions to bring to existing and new customers.”

M. Holland Latinoamérica is off to a great start with already 500 customers and a solid infrastructure that includes commercial reach throughout Mexico. It is supported by warehousing, bagging lines, rail terminals, pulverizing equipment and a fleet of bulk and packaged delivery trucks.

The new company is led by Patricio Lebrija, Director General, and Francisco Xavier Lebrija, Director of Operations. Both are long-time executives of Grupo Solquim.

M. Holland first announced its plans for expansion back in May. In a statement then, Ed Holland said that the reasoning behind this strategic move was because of the American shale gas and shale oil boom combined with the changes occurring in the global petrochemicals industry.

Holland also said that plans call for expanding the commercial, technical and logistics infrastructure in Mexico and eventually into other parts of Central and South America. “Both Grupo Solquim and M. Holland currently export into the broader Latin American market. We will look to expand that reach and grow our physical presence beyond Mexico as well,” he added.

Acquisitions are also being considered for the future. “We don’t want to be disruptive to the market, so we’ll make ‘build or acquire decisions’ on a case by case basis,” said Holland in a statement.

Founded by Ed’s father Marvin Holland in 1950, M. Holland serves serves about 3,000 customers supplying over a billion pounds of resin annually sourced from the premier resin producers in the world.

Family-owned Grupo Solquim was founded by Mr. Javier Lebrija Vazquez Gomez 45 years ago and has developed into one of Mexico’s top distributors of solvents and polymers. The company’s headquarters and main facilities are in Mexico City, where it maintains warehousing, break bulk terminals, bagging lines and resin pulverizing capabilities to serve nearly 500 customers throughout Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean.