Naturex SA Acquires Chart Corporation

21/12/07 Naturex SA announces the acquisition of Chart Corporation, a United States company specializing in the production of natural flavouring ingredients for the beverage and flavour industries. Chart Corporation is located in Paterson (NJ), near the US headquarters of Naturex (South Hackensack, NJ). This strategic move further expands the presence of Naturex in the global natural ingredients market.

Naturex and Chart Corporation boast strong synergies, both in terms of their products and their customers. Chart Corporation adds to the Naturex product lines a comprehensive range of flavouring plant extracts in solid and fluid forms. Solid extracts are actually semi-solid, paste-like extracts that are ideal for flavour applications. Fluid extracts are botanical extracts in a liquid form that offer the advantage of being water soluble. Fluid extracts are in high demand by beverage manufacturers as they provide cost-efficient solutions for ingredient solubility. Naturex offers oleoresins, essential oils and flavouring extracts through its NAT’Arom line. With the addition of the Chart Corporation product lines, Naturex will be among the world leaders in natural flavouring ingredients designed for the flavour and beverage industries.

Jacques Dikansky, President and CEO of Naturex said "This acquisition strengthens our position in the natural flavouring ingredients market and further establishes Naturex’s position as one of the global leaders in the field of plant extracts."

Claudia Molloy, President and CEO of Chart Corporation, declared “I am delighted with the combination of both companies, it will enable us to provide the best quality service to our current customers and to compete more effectively for new business.”

From a growth standpoint, 2007 has been particularly remarkable for Naturex. The group continued to enjoy sustained development through organic growth (pro forma growth of 13% at constant USD rates for the first nine months of 2007), as well as the successful acquisition of two other companies: Hammer Pharma in January and HP Botanicals in February, both based in Milan, Italy. Additionally, Naturex established a UK sales office, Naturex Ltd., based in Oxford. Naturex has also launched several new products this year, enhancing its products portfolio with innovative offerings such as FraxiPure, a patent-pending extract of Fraxinus Excelsior seed targeting the growing weight-loss market.

Naturex expects to expand its network in 2008 by establishing a subsidiary in China and opening a sales office in Germany which will also cover the Benelux countries.