LEIPZIG, Germany– c-LEcta, a leading biotechnology company in enzyme engineering and bioprocess development, has announced that it has reached an agreement with Kerry Group for it to acquire a majority shareholding of the company. Kerry is a world-leading taste and nutrition partner for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical markets. This strategically compelling combination will accelerate Kerry’s innovation capabilities in enzyme engineering, fermentation and bio-process development while also enabling c-LEcta to fufill its long term growth potential.
Dr Marc Struhalla, founder and CEO of c-LEcta, comments: “We are very happy to join Kerry group and their global presence in the food and pharmaceutical sectors gives us access to additional markets. At the same time, their expertise in ingredient technologies and applications is a perfect fit as we continue to drive our growth potential in the future. We will continue to collaborate with our existing industry partners and will of course continue to produce and distribute our products for our valued customers.”
Thomas Pfaadt, CFO of c-LEcta adds: “We want to thank our previous investors for the great cooperation over the past years. Without their contribution, such a development would not have been possible. Together, we have achieved a lot and we are thankful for their support.”
Commenting on the agreement with c-LEcta, Dr Albert McQuaid, Chief Science and Technology Officer of Kerry, said: “The food and pharmaceutical industries are on the cusp of a new wave of innovation where new developments in biotechnology, synthetic biology and precision fermentation are radically transforming these sectors. c-LEcta is a leader in these new technologies, which includes fermentation-based products such as disruptive new enzymes, and the strategically compelling combination with Kerry will accelerate our innovation capabilities in enzyme engineering, fermentation and bio-process development. Our broad market reach across food and pharma markets, combined with our deep enzyme applications expertise and integrated ingredient technology design, will enable and accelerate the growth potential of c-LEcta’s strong portfolio and technology capabilities while also supporting us in the creation of tastier, more sustainable and healthier products.”
