Chr. Hansen sells majority of its functional blends business

As a continuation of the strategy to optimize the business portfolio and to focus on areas where the company holds leading positions, Chr. Hansen divests the majority of its functional blends activities.

Chr. Hansen has today entered into a definite agreement to sell the majority of its functional blends activities including a production plant in Italy to Frutarom Industries Ltd. at a total consideration of EUR 25 million. The transaction, which remains subject to normal closing conditions, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2010/11.

“Our decision to sell these activities is in line with Chr. Hansen’s overall strategy to continuously optimize our business portfolio and to focus on and invest in areas where we already have – or can grow into – leading positions. By reducing complexity, the divesture will enable us to focus even more on building a strong global platform in the meat ingredients business with dedicated focus on meat cultures and natural colors.” explains Carsten Hellmann, Executive Vice President, Global Sales, Chr. Hansen.

The transaction is not expected to have a significant impact on the result for the year.

The transaction includes 45 employees from Parma and other parts of Chr. Hansen’s European organization.

Ranked among the ten leading companies in the field of flavors, Frutarom Industries Ltd. (www.frutarom.com) is a global flavors and fine ingredients company demonstrating strong growth within functional blends.

Functional blends

Turnover for the divested functional blends activities accounted for EUR 19 million in the financial year 2009/10. Functional blends are ingredient blends used by meat producers in the production of sausages and cooked ham.