Chitinor buys up BASF’s marine biopolymer business
The agreement will see Chitinor expand its business operations with the acquisition of the BASF production facility in Tromsø, Norway, together with the Chitopharm trademark product and application technologies.
It will also see the company acquire the global customer portfolio for all chitosan product ranges, which includes functional cosmetics ingredients, as well as Chitopharm pharmaceutical ingredients.
Transaction to be completed by August, 2012
Although neither the terms of the acquisition or the price were revealed, the companies have said that the deal is expected to be completed by the end of August 2012.
“With the acquisition of BASFs chitosan business operations, we are significantly strengthening our product and customer portfolio for our marine biopolymer business area,” said Thorleif Thormodsen, CEO of Seagarden ASA, who is also CEO of daughter company Chitinor.
“The inclusion of BASFs production facilities in Tromsø is a strategic and synergistic fit to our existing biopolymer operations in Troms, Northern Norway,” Thormodsen added.
Adding to core capabilities and building the portfolio
The company also said that the acquisition of the business will be a strong addition to is core capabilities in chitin-based biopolymers and will add to its existing portfolio of products that serve both the pharmaceutical and cosmetics markets.
The Chitopharm trademark and portfoilio was established by BASF’s functional ingredients arm, Cognis and consists of three derivatives : Chitopharm M, S and L.
The ingredient range is made from crustaceous marine by-products such as shrimp shell and for the cosmetics and personal care applications the three different products have a range of applications within the hair care, skin and deodorant categories.
