Givaudan is to buy French biotechnology company Alderys. The Swiss flavors and fragrances group said the move is part of its long-term strategy to expand its capabilities in bio-engineering technologies.

Alderys bills itself as a developer of innovative approaches to the biological engineering of profitable chemical compounds from renewable plant sources, with projects aimed at the commodity chemical, cosmetics and animal nutrition sectors.

“The acquisition of Alderys aligns with our long-term strategy for active beauty and more specifically, their expertise in biotechnology is fully complementary to our fragrance and active beauty businesses,” said Maurizio Volpi, president of Givaudan’s Fragrance Division. “It will allow us to expand our portfolio of natural and biosourced products, thanks to their strong research and development bio-engineering platform.”

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020. Givaudan said Alderys’ business would have represented €3 million of incremental revenues to its 2019 results on a pro forma basis.

Acquisition of Indena completed

In separate news, Givaudan also announced it has completed the purchase of the cosmetics business of Indena. Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Indena identifies, develops and produces high-quality active ingredients derived from plants for use in the pharmaceuticals, health food and personal care industries.

The companies have also signed a long-term partnership agreement under which Indena will continue to manufacture ingredients for Givaudan, as well as providing innovation capabilities and other supporting services. Givaudan said the partnership will allow both firms to enhance their capabilities and focus on their respective core competences.