Naturex merger to double 2009 earnings

27-Sep-2009 - Last updated on 01-Oct-2009 at 10:44 GMT

Naturex, the French-based botanicals giant that recently acquired the ingredients business of Spanish company, Natraceutical Group, will earn €185m in 2009 – up from its 2008 income of €93.2m, as it announced details of the deal.

The expanded group – which brings to Naturex markets such as natural colouring agents, fruit and vegetable powders, pectins, functional ingredients, yeast and caffeine – expects to earn €28m before interest, tax and amortisation.

The merger at the beginning of July made Naturex the world’s biggest independent botanical extracts supplier with production facilities in France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, the US, Morocco, Australia and Brazil. It has sales offices in Europe, North America and Asia.

Before the announcement that can be read about here, Naturex conducted more than 60 per cent of its business in the US, with that figure reduced to about 35 per cent, compared to 50 per cent in Europe, for the expanded entity.

Deal details

Last week Naturex revealed the acquisition was worth €110m, 65 per cent of which is to be paid in shares via a reserve capital increase, the remainder paid in cash.

The end result is that Natraceutical Group gains about 39 per cent of Naturex’s capital and around 20 per cent of voting rights.

SGD, the family company of Naturex president and chief executive officer, Jacques Dikansky, takes 20 per cent voting rights and remains the company’s principal shareholder.

The agreement requires French financial authority approval as well as that of Naturex’s shareholders – expected by the end of November.

The new group expects to relocate its headquarters to Naturex’s Avignon headquarters in southern France.

“Thanks to the operation, we are going to be able to strengthen our group, as much from an industrial as from a commercial standpoint, and enhance our development potential,” said Dikansky in press reports.

“The challenge now is to ensure the successful integration of the Natraceutical Group subsidiaries to improve the new entity’s level of profitability as quickly as possible.”

Before the acquisition Naturex specialised in healthy botanicals such as aloe vera, grape, blueberry and echinacea extracts as well as oils, as well as oils and colours.

The deal leaves Natraceutical to focus on its food supplement business through its pharmacy brand, Forte Pharma, for which Naturex would not be an exclusive supplier despite the merger.

Natraceutical’s ingredients were predominantly traded in health, beauty and weight management areas.