BASF to sell Food and Health Performance Ingredients business to Louis Dreyfus Company

• Agreement includes production site in Illertissen, Germany
• Divestment is part of BASF’s strategic portfolio optimization

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.

About BASF’s Nutrition & Health division

BASF Nutrition & Health provides a comprehensive product and service range for human and animal nutrition, pharmaceutical, and flavor & fragrance industries. With our science-driven portfolio, we address customers in globally growing markets to meet the demands of an expanding world population. Together with our customers, we play an active role in enhancing the nutrition, health and wellbeing of consumers all over the world. Our products fulfill the highest safety, regulatory and sustainability standards. BASF Nutrition & Health operates sites in Europe, North America and in Asia-Pacific. For more information, go to www.basf.com.
 

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €68.9 billion in 2023. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com.

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