Symrise offers $1.8bn to buy French ingredients maker Diana

Symrise has made a €1.3bn ($1.8bn) offer to take over French food ingredient maker Diana from private equity firm Ardian, a move which will significantly expand its position in the flavour and nutrition segments.

Diana is one of the leading providers of natural and functional food solutions for food, pet food, nutraceuticals, aquaculture and cosmetics manufacturers.

The Vannes-headquartered firm operates production facilities and sales offices in 23 countries in Europe, North and Latin America, as well as Asia, with a workforce of over 2,000.

The company generated €425m in revenues with an EBITDA margin of around 21% in 2013.

For the food industry, Diana offers culinary solutions, focusing on retextured solutions and functional proteins; colouring solutions for products such as beverages, sweets, sauces and pastries; and functional solutions based on vegetable and animal natural ingredients.

The acquisition, which is expected to be fully EPS accretive starting 2015, will provide Symrise with a competitive platform to capitalise on market opportunities at an accelerated pace and gain additional market share.

The company plans to use already secured bridge financing to fund the transaction.

The combined Diana and Symrise activities generate pro forma sales of around €2.3bn with an EBITDA margin of over 20%.

In addition to strengthening Diana’s regional presence in key growth regions through its expertise in emerging markets, Symrise will support the French firm with its R&D capabilities in flavours, consumer health and life essentials.

Symrise CEO Dr Heinz Jürgen Bertram said, "With Diana we will be able to significantly diversify our portfolio for natural ingredients, tap into new business segments, strengthen our raw material supply and meet the requests for traceability from our customers.

"The planned integration of Diana will create an unparalleled set-up which will offer us new opportunities for profitable growth beyond our current market and establish an excellent position to generate value in the future."

Ardian senior managing director and mid markets enterprise capital head Philippe Poletti said, "As a globally leading F&F company, Symrise is an ideal owner for Diana to continue developing and growing its business."

Stamford Partners is providing financial advisory services to Symrise on the transaction.