Frutarom Industries Ltd. (TASE: FRUT; LSE:FRUT; OTCBB:FRUTF) has announced that it signed an agreement on Sunday for the acquisition of Acatris Inc., and its affiliates in the US, Belgium and the Netherlands, known collectively as Acatris Health, for €10.5 million. The acquisition was executed through Frutarom's wholly owned subsidiaries.
Acatris Health, a global health ingredients company is a subsidiary of the Dutch Royal Schouten Group NV. The company develops, produces, sells and markets botanical ingredients for the dietary supplement and functional food markets.
Acatris Health's LifeLine product range, which includes Linumlife, Fenulife, and Soylife, is sold to more than 450 leading companies in the food supplement, functional food and cosmetic markets, mostly in Western Europe and the US.
Acatris Health posted sales of $14.7 million in 2005 with margins similar to that of Frutarom's Fine Ingredients Division. Frutarom expects that Acatris Health’s activities will grow in the coming years at an above-industry rate largely due to increased sales of its branded, proprietary patented products that enjoy above-average profitability.
Frutarom added that the acquisition of Acatris Health was an important strategic acquisition that represents another step in the implementation of the company’s growth strategy. It said the acquisition of Acatris Health would strengthen its natural product portfolio, particularly in the dietary supplement and functional food markets that are enjoying rapid growth.
The company also said that a high degree of synergy existed between the current activities of the two companies, which it will work to realize. Acatris Health’s activity will be merged into the global structure of Frutarom’s Fine Ingredients Division, and will be combined with the activity of Flachsmann Switzerland, acquired by Frutarom in 2003.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 3, 2006
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2006