DuPont Nutrition & Health has announced that it will sell its global food safety diagnostics business to a Warburg Pincus portfolio company Hygiena.
However, the financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The acquisition includes all of DuPont Diagnostics business assets, including the BAX and RiboPrinter Systems and associated test kits; a global and technically trained sales, research & development and manufacturing organization; and in-house production capacity.
Set up in 1992, DuPont named the business as Qualicon, which will be retained by Hygiena.
DuPont Nutrition & Health president Matthias Heinzel said: “This transaction is a strategic business decision that will allow DuPont Nutrition & Health to focus on growth opportunities that are more closely aligned with our core portfolio of specialty food ingredients.”
The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2017, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Under its diagnostics business, DuPont offers science-based microbial detection and monitoring products that identify and characterize pathogens and other unwelcome organisms in food ingredients, finished products and production environments.
DuPont said that the BAX System has been adopted as a major detection method by food manufacturers, food quality laboratories and governments around the world.
In 2013, the company announced that its BAX System assay was awarded Official MethodSM of Analysis (OMA) status by the AOAC International for detecting Salmonella in food products.
Hygiena chief executive officer Steve Nason said: “The combined company’s microbiology products will cover the full manufacturing process, from in-process environmental tests to finished product tests.
“In addition, the combination increases our customer service presence in the United States and internationally, which will allow us to further enhance our research and development efforts and support to our combined customer base.”
Hygiena, a microbiology and life science company, plans to invest in new product development to continue the DuPont Diagnostics innovation.
The company serves industrial food processors, healthcare institutions and other industries. Its products are distributed in over 80 countries worldwide.
