DuPont announced that it has received approval from the European Commission for the divestment, expected to close in Q3 2018.
The divestment was part of a deal cleared last year, in which the European Commission conditionally approved DuPont’s acquisition of FMC’s health and nutrition business if it sells its current alginates business.
“The Commission had concerns that the transaction, as originally notified, would have strengthened FMC's dominant position on alginates for use as pharmaceutical excipients and would have significantly reduced competition for food applications by eliminating an important competitor (FMC) in the EEA market,” said the European Commission in a statement from last year.
Alginates are used as stabilizing, thickening, or gelling agents in both food and pharmaceutical products.
The transaction with JRS Group includes the heritage DuPont N&H Alginates business, comprising pure and buffered alginates, a specific portfolio of pectin-alginate blends, the associated production site in Landernau, France, and customer relationships.
DuPont N&H will continue to be active in the alginates market after the transaction closes through the FMC H&N alginates portfolio. DuPont N&H makes specialty ingredients for the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and dietary supplements industries.
“The receipt of regulatory approval to divest the heritage DuPont N&H Alginates business is an important step in finalizing our integration of FMC’s Health & Nutrition Business,” said DuPont N&H Business President Matthias Heinzel.
“Our team is dedicated to creating value for our customers through the integration of our new DuPont N&H product portfolio, which combines the heritage portfolios of DuPont N&H, FMC H&N and Dow Food & Pharma to deliver a unique offering in the food ingredients and pharma excipients market.”