Announced earlier this summer, the deal includes dsm-firmenich's Marine Lipids omega-3 fish oil business for the food and beverage, dietary supplement and pharmaceutical markets, as well as the MEG-3 brand and production facilities in Piura, Peru and Mulgrave, Canada. In return, dsm-firmenich has received a minority stake in the enlarged KD group.
“This is a historic day for our company,” said Oscar Groet, CEO of KD Pharma Group. “We are excited about the new opportunities that lie ahead of us, which will allow us to better advance our mission of creating innovative health solutions that help people live better lives. We now have a leadership position throughout the value chain from refined oils to pharmaceutical APIs to softgel capsule manufacturing.
“We are committed to ensuring that our customers from both businesses have a seamless experience as we integrate the acquisition and promise they will receive the highest levels of service and market-leading quality.”
Building a portfolio
The deal expands KD Pharma Group‘s lipids CDMO business and will create a “well-equipped market player in Marine Lipids by combining the best of the two companies and respective expertise, with the scale of dsm-firmenich’s Piura and Mulgrave sites and the high concentration capability of the KD Pharma Group company”, KD Pharma shared in a press release.
DSM obtained the MEG-3 fish oil business when it acquired Ocean Nutrition Canada (ONC) in 2012 for C$540 million. This followed DSM’s acquisition of Martek Biosciences Corporation’s algae platform for about $1 billion in 2011.
dsm-firmenich will continue to offer MEG-3 fish oils for the Early Life Nutrition markets as well as MEG-3 powders. In addition, dsm-firmenich’s algae business is not included in the deal.
With approximately 710 employees, the expanded KD Pharma Group now has seven manufacturing facilities in the UK, Norway, Germany, Canada, Peru and the United States, and benefits from a wider range of products and customization capabilities.