Givaudan to Acquire Quest International for $2.3B

NEW YORK – Fragrance supplier Givaudan has agreed to acquire competitor Quest International for $2.3 billion at current exchange rates, the companies said today.

Givaudan, based in Geneva, and Quest, the flavors and fragrance business unit of U.K.-based Imperial Chemical Industries PLC, expect the deal to be finalized during the first quarter of next year. The acquisition, which is valued at 1.2 billion British pounds, or about 2.8 billion Swiss francs, is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

Along with flavors and fragrance suppliers International Flavors & Fragrances, Firmenich and Symrise, Givaudan and Quest are in the top tier of players within the flavor and fragrance supply industry. Their business segments include fragrance production for consumer products such as perfumes, shampoo and detergent, as well as flavors for the food and beverage industries.

Givaudan expects the acquisition of Quest to “extend Givaudan’s leadership position in all strategic segments of the fragrance and flavor industry,” the company said in a statement. Givaudan did not stipulate how big the combined company would be in terms of sales but the annual revenues of the two companies add up to about $3.35 billion.

Givaudan said it expects to achieve annual synergies of 150 million Swiss francs, or $122.2 million, with “full benefits” realized the third year after the acquisition.

The Givaudan-Quest deal marks one of the biggest acquisitions — in an industry punctuated in recent years by consolidation — since the 2002 merger of Haarmann & Reimer and Dragoco, which at the time had combined sales of $1.42 billion, a deal that spawned Symrise.


For complete coverage see Monday’s issue of WWD.