Avril announced today the arrival of Eddy Feijen as CEO of Eurolysine SAS. The company, recently created as part of Avril's takeover of some of the Metex Group's activities, is currently the only firm in Europe that develops and produces fermented amino acids which are vital for French and European animal production sectors.
Eddy Feijen, former Managing Director Base Oleochemicals at Oleon, an Avril business unit and a global leader in natural-based oleochemicals, will focus on developing the business by drawing on the know-how of existing teams in Amiens and Saint-Beauzire, as well as Avril's expertise, to (re)make Eurolysine European leader in the production of fermented amino acids.
Eddy will report directly to a Strategic Committee, presided over by Avril CEO Jean-Philippe Puig, and comprised of representatives of the new firm's two shareholders – Avril (55%) and BPI's SPI fund (45%) – along with independent administrators.
Avril CEO Jean-Philippe Puig: "I have full confidence in Eddy to meet the challenge of his new position. His international experience, his in-depth expertise of industrial sectors and markets, his knowledge of our Group, as well as his managerial qualities are key to driving Eurolysine's growth, and promoting sovereignty in the animal sector."
Eddy Feijen takes over from Rudolph Hidalgo, who was in charge of restructuring Metex activities since November 2023.
56-year-old Eddy Feijen spent most of his career with Oleon, Europe's leading oleochemical producer and an Avril business unit, which he joined over 20 years ago. Since 2013, he was Managing Director Base Oleochemicals at Oleon.
Eddy, who holds a Masters in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Applied Biological Sciences from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), is a member of the APAG Steering Committee, the European Oleochemical Federation for which he was the president from 2016 to 2018.