Frutarom to expand in Asia-Pacific, by acquiring Taura

Frutarom Industries Ltd. announces that it has signed a purchase agreement for the acquisition of 100 per cent of the share capital of the Australian company Taura Natural Ingredients Holding Ltd. in exchange for a cash payment of approximately USD 70.0 million. 

Taura was purchased without any debts and holding cash amounting to approximately USD 2.5 million. The purchase agreement includes payment of an additional amount of approximately USD 3.5 million conditional on Taura’s business performance over the 12 month period ending June 30, 2016. The transaction will be financed using bank credit.

Taura has evolved into a world leading player in concentrated and texturized fruit ingredients, possessing efficient state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in New Zealand and Belgium along with sales offices in the United States and in the UK, with an overall workforce totaling 130 employees. Taura engages in the development, production and marketing of innovative solutions through its unique Ultra Rapid Concentration (URC) technology for delivering market-leading natural fruit ingredients in terms of flavor, functionality and consumer experience to a wide range of food products, particularly healthy snacks, breakfast cereals, confectionery, convenience foods and baked goods.
Frutarom focuses on developing and producing natural products and views these as an important strategic growth engine. Over two-thirds of Frutarom’s products today are natural and the Company invests heavily in developing unique and innovative products with high added value at its sites throughout the world.
Taura’s highly-experienced and successful management team, led by Mr. Peter Dehasque, will continue managing the company and driving its strategic expansion.

Ori Yehudai, President and CEO of Frutarom Group, said:

“The acquisition of Taura, a global leader in taste and fruit solutions, is the continuation of Frutarom’s implementation of its rapid growth strategy and the realization of its vision ‘to be the preferred partner for tasty and healthy success.’ This acquisition continues to solidify Frutarom’s position as one of the world’s top companies in its field and reinforces its presence and standing as a leading global producer for natural flavor and fruit solutions”.
He explained that the acquisition accelerates the growth of their activity in Asia-Pacific markets, with emphasis on Australia and New Zealand
“Following the acquisition, Frutarom will benefit from bringing on board Taura’s experienced and effective management team and employees at every level who will together with Frutarom contribute towards paving the way forward to continued and quickened growth.”

Mr. Peter Dehasque, CEO of Taura, said:
“This strategic move represents a major milestone in fueling Taura’s continued profitable growth into the high value, high growth segments of natural foods and nutritional snacks. Taura’s URC made, fruit based building blocks have a strong complementary fit to Frutarom’s activities in natural flavors, fine ingredients and fruit solutions. We will significantly enhance our access to a whole raft of natural raw materials which can easily be integrated into our URC, fruit based materials laying a solid foundation for leading edge innovation for years to come. Having access to Frutarom’s strong scientific and technological expertise will no doubt lead to cross-fertilization and boost our highly specialized portfolio of innovative products further”.