DuPont to acquire Danish ingredients company
DuPont de Nemours & Co has agreed to acquire Danisco, a global enzyme and specialty food ingredients company, for $5.8 billion in cash and assumption of $500 million of Danisco net debt.
Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, Danisco is a specialty food ingredients manufacturer with a product portfolio that includes enablers, cultures and sweeteners.
DuPont and Danisco also are joint venture partners in the development of cellulosic ethanol technology.
Jørgen Tandrup, Danisco’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, comments: “We believe this offer represents attractive value for Danisco shareholders at a time when the share price is at an all-time high, and that it is in the best interest of the business and our employees. There will be substantial opportunities as part of a larger group and DuPont will bring significant advantages to Danisco’s strategy and further development. DuPont and Danisco make a powerful combination and will benefit from each others’ complementary strengths and skills.”
Ellen J. Kullman, chairman and chief executive officer of DuPont, said: “Danisco is a premier company, a longtime successful partner of DuPont and a proven innovator committed to sustainable growth. Danisco has attractive, market-driven science businesses that offer clear synergies with DuPont Nutrition & Health and Applied BioSciences.
“This transaction is a perfect strategic fit with our growth opportunities and will help us solve global challenges presented by dramatic population growth in the decades to come, specifically related to food and energy. In addition, biotechnology and specialty food ingredients have the potential to change the landscape of industries, such as substituting renewable materials for fossil fuel processes and addressing food needs in developing economies, that will generate more sustainable solutions and create growth for the company.”
DuPont said it expects to finance the acquisition with approximately $3 billion in existing cash and the remainder in debt. The transaction is expected to close early in the second quarter and be cash and earnings accretive in 2012, the first full year of the combined entity.
DuPont has set its 2011 earnings per share outlook at a range of $3.30 to $3.60 per share, and the anticipated impact of the transaction would reduce that outlook by 30c to 45c per share on a reported basis, the company said.
Danisco has nearly 7,000 employees globally with operations in 23 countries.