Flavour and fragrances giant Givaudan is further bolstering its fragrance business with the acquisition of US-based fragrance house Custom Essence.
Founded in 1981 in New Jersey, US, the family-owned business specialises in creating natural fragrances across a wide range of categories including for local and regional personal care customers as well as larger brands, and is said to have created some of the most popular fragranced products among US consumers.
With the acquisition, Givaudan hopes to utilise the company's expertise in natural fragrance creation and insight into the US markets, while Custom Essence will benefit from Givaudan's supply chain and international manufacturing capabilities to help deliver better value to its customers, according to the company.
Maurizio Volpi, President of Givaudan Fragrance & Beauty said: “We are excited to announce the acquisition of Custom Essence as it fits perfectly with our 2025 strategy to expand our presence with local and regional customers and grow our capabilities in natural perfumes.
“Custom Essence will bring true expertise in managing a fast growing customer segment, as well as valuable know-how in formulating natural fragrances.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Custom Essence's business is predicted to have contributed around US$40m to Givaudan's 2020 results, while the transaction is expected to close in the final quarter of this year.
Prashun Patel, Chief Operating Officer at Custom Essence, added: “We are proud to join Givaudan and to bring in our knowledge in natural fragrance creation, as well as our reach to local and regional customers.
“Givaudan’s technology, regulatory, supply chain, and international manufacturing support will enable us to scale quickly to provide even better value to our customers. We are looking forward to creating together the beautiful fragrances that consumers love.”
Last month, Givaudan reported an 8% lift in its fragrance and beauty sales in the first nine months of 2021, driven by fine fragrance and active ingredients as the prestige sector begins to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumers' appetite for luxury scents.
