Innophos has been acquired by One Rock Capital Partners. Under the terms of the agreement, Innophos shareholders will be paid $32 for each share. The deal was announced in October, 2019 and was approved by a shareholder vote on Jan. 15 of this year. The deal represented an 18% premium over the average price of Innophos’ stock in early September. As of today, the company’s shares are no longer trading on the NASDAQ market.
Prior to the acquisition, Innophos had been in the process of transforming itself from a manufacturer of specialty phosphates (something it is still involved in) into a broad based supplier of ingredients to food and dietary supplement companies.
Under the leadership of former CEO Kim Ann Mink, PhD, Innophos had acquired Novel Ingredients and Nutragenesis. The move was seen as a way for the company to enter markets that still had room for innovation and had more margin flexibility. The specialty chemicals field had devolved into primarily a commodity play, with little opportunity for new product development and a heavy downward pressure on prices and margins.
As part of the deal, Richard Hooper has been named to replace Mink as CEO of Innophos. Hooper is said to be an industry veteran with 40 years of specialty materials experience.
“As a private company, Innophos is expected to have greater flexibility to drive continued growth in its attractive end markets and strengthen its existing operations,” Hooper said.
Innophos is headquartered in Cranbury, NJ and has manufacturing operations across the United States, in Canada, Mexico and China.
