Fortitech and BASF Dissolve Joint Venture for Human Nutrition Premixes

18/02/08 Fortitech, Inc. and BASF SE have announced that the two companies dissolved their joint venture in the human nutrition premix marketplace and Fortitech will buy all BASF shares. The agreement extends to all joint ventures throughout Europe, South America and Asia. Fortitech is a leading provider of custom nutrient premix systems worldwide. Custom-designed nutrient premixes contain a wide variety of nutrients associated with health and wellness and are primarily used to fortify food, beverage and pharmaceutical products.

“The divestment of BASF in the human nutrition premix joint venture is part of BASF’s strategy to operate efficiently and flexibly in the food and feed markets and, thus, to position BASF Nutrition Ingredients as a sustainable food ingredient supplier to the food industry,” said Dr. Martin B. Jager, Group Vice President of Nutrition Ingredients for BASF.

“As our customer base in Europe, South America and Asia continues to grow, we needed to adjust how we do business in those markets,” said Walter Borisenok, president and CEO, Fortitech, Inc. “The best way to continue to deliver top-notch service that our customers have come to expect from us is to focus on our core strength as a manufacturer of custom nutrient premix systems.”

BASF will continue to supply Fortitech with a broad range of nutri-tional ingredients, but will discontinue its position within the human nutrition premix business. BASF will continue to provide Fortitech with equal access to top-grade nutritional ingredients as all other customers. Fortitech is using BASFs top-grade nutritional ingredients in a variety of custom nutrient blends. Fortitech custom nutrient premixes feature a variety of ingredients and are used worldwide in a range of products from functional drinks to nutrient bars to infant formulas.