14 April 2008 - France's Groupe Iranex, which comprises Colloïdes Naturels International (CNI), Starlight Products, Nutriprocess and Afritec, has acquired a 100% stake in nutraceuticals manufacturer Bio Serae Laboratories for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition is seen as part of the group’s strategy to grow in the dietary supplement and nutraceutical markets and strengthen its presence in the global health products sector.
Iranex’s CNI, in particular, will benefit from the acquisition thanks to portfolio and customer synergies.
CNI and Bio Serae both manufacture and sell natural food ingredients and focus on research and development to guarantee quality products for their customers.
Bio Serae manufactures a well-known range of health supplements, such as NeOpuntia®, Cacti-Nea®, VinOserae®, or VinOseed®).
Meanwhile, CNI, being the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of Acacia gum and other natural vegetable gums, provides key brands, such as Fibregum™, Eficacia™, and more recently Equacia™, a nutritional texturizer associating acacia soluble fibers and wheat insoluble fibers.
Stéphane Dondain, Groupe Iranex’s CEO views this latest acquisition as an important step in Iranex’s diversification process and expects the group to become a leader in the natural and health products segment thanks to ongoing innovative research.
Based in Bram, near Toulouse, Bio Serae has an annual turnover of 7 million euro. Established in 1984, the company employs 25 people at its production site and works with 24 distributors globally.
Based in Rouen, Groupe Iranex, as a leader in the nutritional, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, is present in 5 continents, 72 countries, via 9 subsidiaries (France, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and China) and has a network of 46 representative companies. Iranex is enjoying annual growth of 7-9% each year.
Colloïdes Naturels International works with 8 distribution companies and 75 sales agents across the globe.
Starlight Products is a trading firm that supplies watersoluble gums, resins, waxes and agro-based commodities.
Nutriprocess is a European expert company for the drying, spray drying and agglomeration of powders for human and animal food, as well as for the cosmetic industry.
Afritec is specialised in the processing of acacia gum.