Corbion to divest emulsifiers business to Kingswood Capital Management

26 Jan 2024 --- Corbion and Kingswood Capital Management, a middle-market private equity firm with significant experience in corporate carve-outs and investments related to food and beverage, have signed a binding agreement regarding the sale of Corbion’s emulsifiers business.

Los Angeles-based Kingswood will acquire the emulsifier business from Corbion for a cash purchase price of US$362 million, with expected net cash proceeds of approximately US$275 million, post-tax and transaction costs. 

The sale will allow Corbion to sharpen its focus on fermentation-based technologies while providing customers and stakeholders of the emulsifiers business as a trusted partner in navigating corporate divestitures.

Focus on fermentation
The divestment of Corbion’s emulsifiers business follows Corbin's Advance 2025 strategy, initially announced in 2020. It focuses on further growing a set of core competencies built around advanced expertise in fermentation, an essential part of the company’s strategy.

“Corbion takes immense pride in its heritage as a pioneer and leader in the emulsifier industry, and we appreciate the dedicated employees and loyal customers who contributed to this successful chapter in our history,” says Andy Muller, president of Sustainable Food Solutions at Corbion.

Last year, Corbion launched a Listeria Control Model to help producers tackle food pathogens by identifying optimal antimicrobial interventions based on product formulation (Image credit: Corbion).“Caring about the welfare of both our customers and our employees has always been part of building a premium emulsifiers business at Corbion, so that was very much on our minds when looking at potential new owners. We believe this deal matches our customers and employees with the right partners and leadership to help take them even further."

The transaction comprises two US-based manufacturing plants and 175 employees. Corbion and Kingswood will work together, with supply and service agreements in place, to enable a smooth transition.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

“Kingswood is excited to take this world-class emulsifiers business forward and build on its tremendous heritage by continuing to provide best-in-class service. We are delighted to partner with Corbion in creating the largest standalone pure-play emulsifiers business in North America,” says Alex Wolf, managing partner at Kingswood.

“The unique and important benefits these products provide for manufacturers will allow emulsifiers to play a key role in meeting evolving needs in the global marketplace, both for food and non-food applications,” adds Andrew Kovach, managing director at Kingswood.

“We are confident that the emulsifier business will be in good hands under Kingswood’s stewardship and will receive strong support from their new owners,” says Olivier Rigaud, CEO of Corbion.

Edited by Gaynor Selby