Danisco A/S Signs Agreement to Acquire Sorbial

The acquisition includes expertise in R&D and technical services, a product portfolio of unique proprietary strains of Lactobacilli and access to the key EU market for technologies such as Direct Fed Microbials.

12 Nov 2009 --- Danisco A/S has signed an agreement to acquire Sorbial, an agricultural biotechnology company. With a turnover above EUR 1 million in 2008, Sorbial is the highly innovative branch of the French group, Vallée. It is dedicated to the development, manufacture and application of microbial-based products for the animal production and waste treatment industries. This acquisition further strengthens Danisco’s capabilities in delivering healthy nutrition solutions to the animal production industry and protecting the environment.

Expanding in Animal Nutrition

The acquisition includes expertise in R&D and technical services, a product portfolio of unique proprietary strains of Lactobacilli and access to the key EU market for technologies such as Direct Fed Microbials*.

‘This acquisition builds on the acquisition of Agtech Products that we announced in October 2008,’ comments James Laughton, Executive Vice President, Danisco Animal Nutrition. ‘It further strengthens our aspiration to be the leader in providing healthy nutrition solutions as we are now able to bring exciting innovations to our customer base in the EU as well as North America,’ he continues.

Strengthening Cultures leading position

‘This strategic move further assesses our global leadership position in the Culture market,’ adds Doug Willrett, Executive Vice President – BioActives, Cultures Division. ‘Sorbial’s expertise and proprietary strains will speed up our product development using natural technologies to create sustainable solutions for animal nutrition and environment protection.’

Danisco’s Cultures Division currently experiences a solid growth registering EUR 72 million (DKK 537 million) revenue in Q1 2009/10, up 13% year/year.

*A direct-fed microbial product is a product that contains viable beneficial microorganisms, which improve digestion and animal well-being.