Internationalization

Niccolò De Nora attributed great space and autonomy to Permelec and placed DSA® anodes at the center of the company's strategic development policies. "Plants are needed to sell DSA® anodes," he said "and DSA® anodes are needed to sell plants". Well advised by sector managers, he understood that in a mature market, it was no longer sustainable to concentrate all activities in the single headquarters in Via Bistolfi in Milan. Niccolò De Nora sensed that in the modern market, "to sell in the world, you have to go to the world to sell." Thus began a courageous but highly profitable expansion policy for the De Nora Group, which in the 1980s and 1990s opened numerous subsidiaries in key locations around the planet. The company consolidated its international position through relocation and gained significant competitive advantages.

The expansion of the Group led by Niccolò De Nora began with a clever re-interpretation of the agreement that has bound the via Bistolfi company to Japan's Mitsui since 1968. In 1980, Niccolò became convinced that the partnership with the Japanese giant should generate much larger profits than those emerging from the balance sheets. This conviction matured following a careful analysis of elements of the Japanese competitive scenario, including the particular market structure, the technological positioning of the joint Mitsui-De Nora group, and the general technological advancement of the country. Niccolò De Nora initiated further fact-finding, talked with the top management of the Japanese company and began a negotiation that led the Japanese to distribute significant dividends. The money released was reinvested in the company and used to build "De Nora do Brasil."

In Niccolò De Nora's vision, Brazil assumed a fundamental strategic importance for controlling the South American area. It was the early 1980s and the country was governed by a rigid protectionist system, making it impossible for a company with foreign capital to open directly. Niccolò De Nora managed to work out an agreement directly with the government and founded De Nora do Brasil in 1983. During the 1990s, the company grew considerably, dominating the metal anode industry in Brazil and South America.

In the same period, the Group was also interested in the Indian and Asian markets. India was a very populous country with a relatively developed electrochemical industry and great potential for growth in both the membrane and diaphragm cell sectors. Politically, the Indian market was also governed by a strict system of protectionist regulations, which made it necessary for local partners to be present when setting up capital companies. Niccolò De Nora identified the ideal partner in the Swedish company Swedish Match, which had been producing matches in India for many years. Out of the agreement came "Wimco," which started producing DSA® anodes and operated with excellent results. Then, gradually, the Swedish partner began to lose ground, weakened by the growth in the consumption of lighters. While the company sustained itself thanks to the forces of the Italian Group, Niccolò De Nora made a trip to India. In 1989 he founded the new electrochemical company Titanor Components in Goa, which, within a short time, was listed on the stock exchange. This was the first time in the history of the De Nora Group, a debut in many ways forced by Indian laws but marked by significant success.

During this period, Niccolò De Nora formed an intense friendship with Lim Soo Peng, an influential Singaporean politician and industrialist, who convinced him to set up a factory in his country as well. This company, too, performed well and effectively presided over all the substantial production in Southeast Asia. In the early 1990s, the De Nora Group sensed the enormous potential of the Chinese market and decided to enter this enormous country to produce a low-cost electrode for use in diaphragm cells. Chinese technology was still relatively backward and consisted mainly of diaphragm plants with low-quality, locally made electrodes. As was the case with previous overseas subsidiaries, De Nora Group's entry into the Chinese market was made at first through a joint company. The local partner was the owner of a small company producing coated anodes. In 1993, Niccolò De Nora acquired 70 percent of the company's shares and by the mid-1990s "jiangyin De Nora Tian Li" had developed to such an extent that it required the construction of a second plant of much larger proportions, capable of also meeting much of the production aimed at the Japanese market.

In the second half of the 1990s, the time also came to look to Europe. Niccolò De Nora was particularly interested in Germany, a country characterized by great technological resources and significant market opportunities. The German subsidiary was established through a joint venture with Heraeus, a leading precious metals marketing group. After a few years, Heraeus decided to initiate a restructuring process that would exclude the coated anodes sector, which was considered non-strategic. At the 1998 Permelec seminar in Venice, Jurgen Heraeus, owner of the company and linked to Niccolò De Nora by an intense relationship of friendship and esteem, proposed the sale of that portion of the business. Niccolò De Nora had no hesitation and negotiated the purchase of the stake directly in Venice. The new "De Nora Deutschland" started an extraordinarily successful business, reached important technological and commercial milestones and showed steadily growing profits. A result of extreme importance for the future of the De Nora Group, made possible by Niccolò De Nora's intuition, determination and ability to make quick decisions, seizing the opportune moment.

Stay tuned, there is more to come!