Naturex expands functional portfolio with Burgundy acquisition

23-Oct-2011 - Last updated on 16-Nov-2011 at 14:14 GMT

Natural ingredients giant Naturex has grown its portfolio of functional health ingredients, whilst increasing its technological and production capabilities with the acquisition of Burgundy Botanical Extracts.

Naturex announced the completed acquisition of Burgundy Botanical Extracts, a French manufacturer and supplier of plant extracts for the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries for around €16m.

Company founder and CEO of Naturex Jacques Dikansky told NutraIngredients that the acquisition came about because “Burgundy is a very good company from a technical point of view, with very interesting products, [and] interesting production capabilities,” but he noted that the company was “not very strong from a sales point of view.”

“We feel that Burgundy has a lot of potential but because of a lack of sales organisation this potential has not been fully used ... Naturex has a very strong sales network so that is a good synergy” he explained.

“Burgundy [also] has a lot of purification capabilities in order to produce pure natural molecules, which we did not have. So on from a pure technological point of view then this is very important for us,” said Dikansky

Burgundy attraction

Dikansky said that Burgundy’s strong functional foods portfolio includes grape seed and cranberry extracts UTIrose, patented hibiscus extract Iridoforce, and an extract of harpagophytum used in the prevention of arthrosis and joint diseases. He explained that the products provide a complementary portfolio that will enable Naturex to expand and strengthen its base in these areas: “This will really reinforce our market presence on these important products,” explained the CEO.

The company will also acquire the two Burgundy production sites that employ around 60 people in the Reyssouze area of France and the Palafolls area of Spain. Dikansky said that the sites will be maintained and developed.

“The idea is to maintain and to develop these two sites, and to use them as much as possible to expand our product line, and technical capabilities to produce new products,” said Dikansky.

“The goal is for Burgundy to operate under the Naturex name and structure in the near future,” he added.

Acquisition activity

The acquisition of Burgundy is Naturex’s ninth in as many years, and with rising profits reported for the France based natural ingredients giant, Dikansky said that further activity was likely in the foreseeable future: “We expect to close a few deals like this in the coming months ... They are all in the natural ingredients and botanical extracts area for food, nutra, pharma and cosmetics applications.”

He added that whilst some acquisition targets are in Europe and the US – where the company already has a strong presence – some of the new acquisitions could see Naturex buy out companies in Latin America and Asia.