Danisco Buys Perlarom

COPENHAGEN - May 7/02 - SNS -- Danisco S/A finalized the purchase of Perlarom S.A., headquartered in Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, advancing Danisco from the number 10 to number 6 position in the European flavoring market.

With net sales of EUR 47 million (approx. DKK 350 million), Perlarom's European flavor sales level ranks among the top ten in Europe. Perlarom has four production sites and 10 subsidiaries around the world. The acquisition is in line with Danisco's offensive strategy of being one of the leading flavor houses in the world.

Alf Duch-Pedersen, CEO, Danisco: "With Perlarom's and Danisco's combined product expertise we're now able to offer the beverage industry an outstanding product portfolio. We're now the number three player in flavors for beverages in Europe.

"This is the segment where we see the highest growth on the world market today - exceeding the average growth in the industry of approx. 4%. We therefore expect the Perlarom business to bring us further growth in this segment in the coming years," he said.

"And we will use Danisco's extensive worldwide sales network to promote and sell this new and wide variety of products that we now have access to. With this acquisition, Danisco has obtained a perfect position that will strengthen our organic growth", emphasizes Alf Duch-Pedersen, adding that Perlarom supplies Danisco with a dedicated flavor sales network, marketing expertise, manufacturing capacity and R&D facilities.

The world market for flavors is estimated at approx. EUR 5.5 billion (approx. DKK 40 billion), of which Europe is just over one third. Danisco's flavor sales worldwide will amount to approx. EUR 240 million (approx. DKK 1.8 billion) after the acquisition.