Glanbia Nutritionals acquires Watson for $89m

Glanbia Nutritionals has acquired Watson, a US-based non-dairy ingredient solution business, for $89m.

Headquartered in Connecticut, Watson is engaged in the production of bakery ingredients, edible film and material conditioning solutions for the nutrition, food and beverage, personal care and supplement industries.

Glanbia Nutritionals CEO Brian Phelan said: “We are excited to welcome the 300 employees of Watson with their established reputation of expertise, technical capability and commitment to excellence.

“The customers of both organisations will stand to benefit significantly from the combined capabilities that the two teams now bring together.”

The deal is expected to further strengthen Glanbia’s capabilities in micro-encapsulation, agglomeration, micronising, spray drying and edible film technologies.

The acquisition will also expand Glanbia Nutritionals’ custom nutrient premix production footprint, which now extends coast to coast in the US, with facilities in California, Missouri, Illinois and Connecticut.

Watson president James Watson said: “We believe that a combination of Watson and Glanbia will offer more growth and long-term opportunities for Watson, its customers, and employees.

“This is a defining moment in the growth of Watson as a business.  We look forward to the next chapter of our story.”

With more than 2,000 employees and a presence in 19 countries, Glanbia Nutritionals is a $1.4bn nutritional solutions and cheese business.

Its products include proteins, custom nutrient premixes and cheese, as well as bioactive, plant-based nutrition ingredients, flavours, micronutrients and aseptic beverages.

In August, Glanbia Nutritionals, Dairy Farmers of America and Select Milk Producers confirmed the location for their large-scale cheese and whey production facility, which will be built with an investment of $470m.