Starch ingredients company National Starch and Chemical, a subsidiary of the chemical giant ICI Group, has moved further into human nutrition with the announcement yesterday that it has acquired the resistant starch business from Penford Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Penford Corporation.
The agreement gives National Starch the worldwide rights to Penford Australia's technology and intellectual property portfolio in high amylose resistant starch.
According to National Starch, the agreement covers the use of products for general applications as well as the exclusive rights for products used in human nutrition.
The technology platform, made available through a royalty bearing licensing structure, encompasses resistant starch products for human nutrition including prebiotic and probiotic effects, colonic health, fat metabolism, glycemic response, weight regulation, body composition and treatment and prevention of disease. The commercial business acquired includes the supply of hi-maize resistant starch to customers in Australasia and elsewhere.
"This technology, combined with National Starch's existing proprietary technology portfolio, enables the company to more rapidly grow its already successful human nutrition platform," said Gary Zwiercan, group vice president of Advanced Ingredients Group.
National Starch claimed that the value of the transaction represents less than 1 per cent of ICI Group net assets.
In June this year Penford Corporation reported a net loss of $0.6 million (€0.61m) for the third quarter ended 31 May 2002, although nine-month sales had increased by 2 per cent to $170.3 million from $166.5 million for the same period in 2001.
In January 2001 the Penford Corporation linked up with US agribusiness Cargill to form a joint venture combining their industrial starch businesses in North America.
With sales of €2.63 billion, National Starch is a worldwide manufacturer of adhesives, specialty polymers, natural polymers and ingredients.