Amyris and Nikkol partner up on skin care ingredient development

Nikkol Group specializes in ingredients for cosmetics and personal care. “Nikkol includes seven core companies for sales, R&D, manufacturing, safety and efficacy evaluation based on colloid chemical and skin science in Japan and overseas,”​ as the Amyris press release about the joint venture explains.

The company is buying up 50% of the Amyris Neossance business. It’s a deal that could be worth as much as $20m. Upfront, Amyris is getting $10m. And, should the venture generate sufficient sales, that same amount will come as an earn out over the next three years.

Old friends​

The two companies have worked together before. Nikkol has been the Japanese market distributor for Amyris for several years. Amyris got its start in 2003 and is looking forward to expanding its sales volume and further establishing a global market position with this deal.  “This agreement is another key step among several in our stated plan to build greater value for our business, and ensure access to partner-driven growth capital while positioning the company to significantly expand product sales,” ​affirms John Melo, president and CEO of Amyris, in the press release.

“NIKKOL is an ideal partner for this joint venture and is the leading channel partner for our squalane business,” ​he adds, explaining that “this aligns with our strategy of focusing our business on partnering with the world’s leading companies to accelerate our product sales growth while lowering our operating costs. We expect squalane sales through to end customers to continue growing at better than 50% annually while our expenses will be reduced by over $1.5 million annually as a result of this partnership.”​

New possibilities ​

With numbers like that, both companies believe now is the right time for this joint venture: “NIKKOL has been involved in the sugarcane-based squalane business since the product’s inception by Amyris and we believe this is an opportune time to join forces,”​ Shizuo Ukaji, president & CEO of Nikko Chemicals tells the press.

“By working together, we believe the additional financial, marketing, innovation, and business development synergies will lead to a significant expansion in market applications,”​ says Ukaji.