Chemical reaction: Juan Antonio Merino

In October 2015, the US’s oldest chlorine manufacturer, Olin Corporation, made headlines when it successfully assumed control of the majority of Dow Chemical’s US chlor-alkali and global downstream derivatives business. The US$5.5-billion deal saw the number of Olin’s chlorine and caustic soda products rise to 18 from 3, making Olin the largest integrated chlor-alkali producer with top-tier, low-cost facilities.

"The acquisition from Dow Chemical was probably one of our most important milestones," says Juan Antonio Merino who, after 30 years of expertise in different functions of the chemical industry, is now the president for Olin’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and India operations. "Since then, we have had to reinvent ourselves to suit the new combined culture. We have been working to redesign all of our business across the region, and strategising around the best way to move forward with our new portfolio of products." 

From headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, Juan Antonio is now implementing
the strategy in his area of responsibility. "The portfolio of products and businesses around chlorine and epoxy were not fitting strategically within Dow Chemical, but for us it was the perfect fit. Olin is the largest chlor-alkali producer in the world, and with the new chlorine derivatives we have become one of the strongest, too," he says."We have benefited greatly, so why reinvent ourselves? Because we want to continually develop both our products and our services." 

Now with a much richer supply of different customers around Europe, Juan Antonio’s focus has been to refine and customise its offerings based on the  needs of individual clients. An essential part of this strategy is to be innovative and to develop new products. Investing resources is a key part of the strategy that, in the future, will provide the solutions that are requested in the industries.

"We now have a very large number of customers, and many are requiring specific changes or additions," says Juan Antonio. "We are focusing on understanding and providing the higher level of service that each customer needs to grow. Being a comparatively small company allows us to spend more time on developing this understanding, and our agility is a big advantage. As we grow, we have no intention of losing that level of personal service and technical assistance. We have strong relationships with our customers, and now we will work to establish the same close relationships with our new global customers."

This means not only delivering the exact products customers need, but offering the right level of service around on-time delivery no matter where they are in the world. "We are servicing around 600 different products in Europe alone, across 80 countries and 950 locations. This has been a huge challenge from the supply chain and product flow point of view, especially when running everything on a cost-competitive basis," says Juan Antonio. "We need to continue to have the best global capabilities, while still operating at a local level. Coordinating local and personal service from a global plane is like art, and doing so successfully is a masterpiece." 

While painting this picture of global success, Juan Antonio says that embracing simplicity is the palette he works from to continue to develop close bonds with clients. "Often we look for big, complicated strategies to be successful but, to be honest, complex things can be hard to hold onto. Sometimes success is in our hands because it is simple," says Juan Antonio. "I always encourage my people to simplify things and approach topics from the customer’s point of view. If we cannot do that, then we cannot succeed. With our team of real experts and the advantages of an agile structure, we quickly learn what the customer needs — and we simply put our effort into providing the best solutions."

Coordinating local and personal service from a global plane is like art, and doing so successfully is a masterpiece.

This is the point where Olin’s long tradition and experience is an advantage; its history predates the twentieth century, and in February Olin celebrated 100 years on the New York Stock Exchange. While the official Olin Corporation brand wasn’t established until 1954, its 2 foundational businesses — Olin Industries and Mathieson Chemical Corporation —
began operations in 1892. Olin Industries operated under many different names and markets while under the same ownership, starting with gunpowder, ammunition and brass to aid the efforts of both major world wars.

After diversifying its operations to include cellophane, lumber and fine paper, all Olin businesses were brought together in 1944 to operate under the one brand, Olin Industries. The Mathieson Chemical Corporation first started work in the chlor-alkali and chlorine fields in 1897, with developments that were originally a means to purify water and sanitise military medical equipment, but which also led to the creation of HTH swimming pool and spa sanitiser, one of the leading brands of pool sanitisers in the world. Mathieson also expanded into industrial and agricultural chemicals, and by 1954 both companies were diversified chemical behemoths with each earning US$250 million in sales annually. That same year, they decided to join forces to form the Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation, which eventually became Olin Corporation.

Since 1970, however, Olin has divested itself of several of its previous business units, and today it stands as leading global producer of chlor-alkali, epoxy materials, chlorinated organics and membrane-grade caustic soda. Its clients span wind energy, refrigerants, food packaging and more. "We have a rich and varied history, but a lot of activities weren’t a strategic fit for the company in the long term. We have now a much clearer business portfolio, which allows us to place our expertise" says Juan Antonio. "We are always strategically considering those things we need to emphasise as well as what we will need to de-emphasise."

The separation transaction with Dow also diversified Olin’s geographic base, with 12 manufacturing sites on 4 continents transitioned to Olin as part of the transaction with Dow’s chlor-alkali and vinyl assets on the US Gulf Coast, as well as its world-class assets in chlorinated organics and epoxy businesses. Though Dow retained its chlor-alkali and vinyl assets in Europe and Latin America for back-integration purposes, the merger created combined revenues worth more than US$5.5 billion. Olin’s chlorine capacity tripled, while its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation jumped to about US$1 billion a year from US$340 million. Olin’s shares also jumped 14% to US$31 at the close of the deal.

More than a year on from the acquisition from Dow Chemical, another key benefit to Olin has been the closer relationships between the company and its collaborative partners, particularly the suppliers of raw materials and supply-chain logistics. "The reaction was immediate. There is now a much bigger, more intimate relationship with our partners; they understand us better; we have been more transparent and simple in explaining what we need from them," says Juan Antonio. "I'm also seeing more engagement from our suppliers in discussions around how we can work together to grow faster by innovating and creating new products. These strategic discussions are absolutely necessary to accelerate the commercialisation of Olin’s innovation pipeline." 

Juan Antonio says that he believes limiting your focus on the individual results of your own company is restrictive, and collaborating with other companies at a strategic level is a far more efficient means to achieve success, and faster. "For me, it is also very important to see strategic collaboration at higher levels of the companies, because a breakthrough can
only be achieved if executives provoke and support that change," says Juan Antonio. "And this is just a starting point for Olin. We are working on more innovative technology developments together with our strategic partners."