BASF has signed a binding agreement to sell its Food and Health Performance Ingredients business, including the production site in Illertissen, Germany, to Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), a leading global merchant and processor of agricultural goods including high-quality, plant-based ingredients. BASF’s Food and Health Performance Ingredients portfolio plays a vital role in addressing growing trends in human nutrition. However, the business has limited synergies and integration into BASF and is no longer a strategic focus area.

As part of the agreement, approximately 300 employees are expected to transfer from BASF to LDC as of the closing of the transaction. Both parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction. Continuous and reliable supplies and business relationships will not be impacted by this transaction.

“Building on our teams’ success to develop this business very well over the last years, LDC as a future-oriented company can offer our employees and the portfolio a promising perspective,” says Michael Heinz, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE and responsible for the Nutrition & Health division. “The divestment of this business to LDC supports our strategic portfolio optimization and will allow us to focus on our core businesses in Nutrition & Health. We remain committed to leveraging our core product platforms and expanding our business in key areas such as vitamins, carotenoids and feed enzymes.”

“In line with LDC’s strategic plans for revenue diversification through more value-added products and growth in downstream markets, this agreement is an opportunity to accelerate LDC’s participation in the rapidly growing plant-based ingredients market,” says Michael Gelchie, LDC’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are excited about the prospect of this transaction, as LDC’s first investment in dedicated facilities to produce food and health performance ingredients at scale.”  

The food and health performance ingredients business includes food performance ingredients such as aeration and whipping agents, food emulsifiers and fat powder grades; health ingredients such as plant sterols esters, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), omega-3 oils for human nutrition and some smaller product lines.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval from relevant regulatory bodies.