Smithers acquires SSP

Akron, OH – Smithers announced its acquisition of SSP. This acquisition enables Smithers to enter the dry commodities testing, analysis, inspection and supervision market. The acquisition includes all SSP operations, including offices and laboratories at the headquarters in the Netherlands and SSP Italy.  SSP is a highly respected and well-known service provider with a global network and an abundance of experience in solid fuels, metals and minerals.
 
SSP services include, but are not limited to, loading and discharge supervision, weight/tallying control, sampling, sample preparation and laboratory testing and trade verification.
 
Michael Hochschwender, chief executive officer, Smithers, believes, “SSP is an exciting addition to Smithers because we share a steadfast commitment to a client-first culture. We believe the SSP culture of building trusted relationships is consistent with the Smithers goal of helping our clients bring great products to market by delivering accurate data, on time, with high touch.”
 
Rav Lally is appointed as group president to oversee the strategic direction, and commented, “Smithers has an excellent reputation for providing testing, inspection and compliance services across a number of different markets. The acquisition of SSP offers Smithers an opportunity to draw on that experience while expanding into an exciting new service line.”
 
Dennis van der Burgh, managing director and a management team member with decades of collective expertise and experience, will continue to lead SSP for this new Smithers company. Van der Burgh commented, “We are excited about this new chapter for SSP. As a Smithers company, we will be able to maintain our ability to service clients in the flexible manner with quick turnaround times and 24/7 availability. He added, “SSP has built a strong client base in Europe and we hope this acquisition can facilitate the expansion of our geographic footprint into North America and Asia Pacific regions.”