Ingredient maker Frutarom has acquired Florida-based Citrasource in a $7.5m deal, as it continues to invest in unique technologies for processing, extracting and refining of citrus fruits.
CitraSource specializes in R&D, manufacturing, marketing and selling of unique solutions in citrus specialty ingredients to major players in the global flavor and fragrances market as well as to the food and beverage industries.
As per the deal, Frutarom agreed for an additional future payment conditional upon CitraSource's performance during 2014-2018.
The acquisition is expected to strengthen Frutarom's position in the R&D, sourcing, production and sale of citrus specialty.
In addition, it will allow the Israeli firm to establish global center of excellence in citrus, and provide its customers with value added products and solutions.
CitraSource managers Niv Ben Yehuda and Randy Aulick will continue to manage CitraSource activities, which will be consolidated into Frutarom's Fine Ingredients operations.
Frutarom president and CEO Ori Yehudai said, "Frutarom is a leading global manufacturer of specialty citrus solutions, and the acquisition of CitraSource is another step in the execution of our strategy of achieving rapid and profitable growth based on natural and healthy products.
"The strengthening of our control over the sourcing of our raw materials (back integration) which CitraSource brings us, will further enhance our leadership position in the market for citrus specialty ingredients and will allow us to expand our product portfolio and provide added value to our customers."
