News

Corbion completes TerraVia acquisition for $20m

3 Oct 2017

Corbion has announced the completion of the acquisition of substantially all assets of TerraVia. As a result, TerraVia’s platform centred on food and specialty ingredients derived from microalgae, has now become part of Corbion.

Corbion has announced the completion of the acquisition of substantially all assets of TerraVia. As a result, TerraVia’s platform centred on food and specialty ingredients derived from microalgae, has now become part of Corbion.

Corbion has paid a cash purchase price of approximately $20 million. Corbion expects the total investments to be substantially in excess of the cash purchase price. TerraVia's operations are currently loss making. The acquisition is expected to bring high value creation potential.

"We are looking forward to welcoming a team of highly dedicated colleagues to the global Corbion family,” said Tjerk de Ruiter, CEO of Corbion. “TerraVia brings us a versatile microalgae-based platform which will enable us to expand into the field of producing specialty lipids and proteins, structured fats and tailored oils. TerraVia's IP portfolio and R&D pipeline, as well as its partnerships with industry leaders, provide high-growth opportunities for many years to come. At the same time, we are of course aware of the challenge of bringing the business from promise to commercial success. Corbion's more than 80 years of reliably and economically running industrial-scale fermentation plants and producing sustainable ingredient solutions will help us turn the TerraVia assets into profitable businesses in the coming years."

San Francisco-based TerraVia leverages its microalgae platform to deliver ingredients with benefits, such as Omega-3 oils for animal nutrition and tailored oils, structured fats and proteins for food, personal care and industrial applications. It operates an R&D centre and pilot facility in San Francisco, a demonstration plant in Peoria (Illinois) and an industrial scale plant in Brazil in a joint venture (50.1% owned by TerraVia) with Bunge.