As part of its 2020 strategy to expand the capabilities of its fragrance business, Givaudan today announces that it has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire Albert Vieille SAS, a French company specialised in natural ingredients used in the fragrance and aromatherapy markets.
Albert Vieille has unique know-how in the realm of aromatic plants and specialises in 100% pure essential oils and speciality natural ingredients.
The natural ingredients are used for the formulation of perfumes and aromatherapy products.
With its origins dating back to 1920, and with more than 50 employees, Albert Vieille is based close to Grasse, in France, and has a manufacturing facility in Spain, with its products sold globally through a network of distributors.
They source their raw materials across the world, where fragrant crops are harvested and have developed over many years strong capabilities in natural ingredients sourcing and processing.
Gilles Andrier, CEO of Givaudan said: “Acquiring Albert Vieille will fit nicely with our 2020 strategy to enrich Givaudan’s palette with novel in-house natural ingredients that our perfumers will use to offer best quality and creative solutions to our customers. This acquisition will also allow us to enter the market of essential oils for aromatherapy, which will contribute to our 2020 strategy for ‘health and well-being’. It is another step in reinforcing our presence in Grasse, where the perfumery know-how has recently been awarded World Heritage Status by UNESCO.”
Maurizio Volpi, President of Givaudan’s Fragrance Division said: “Albert Vieille will bring to Givaudan the expertise to further develop and vertically integrate our natural capabilities. We will combine our existing know-how with those of Albert Vieille to meet the needs of our customers who are facing an increasing demand from consumers for more natural and sustainable fragranced products.”
While terms of the deal will not be disclosed, Albert Vieille’s business would have represented approximately EUR 30 million of incremental sales to Givaudan’s results in 2017 on a proforma basis. Givaudan plans to fund the transaction from existing resources.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019.
