Novozymes, Chr. Hansen tie-up likely to win EU nod, sources say

Novozymes A/S

06/12/2023 15:55

(Adds requests for comment in paragraph 4, deal close in para
5)
    By Foo Yun Chee
       BRUSSELS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Danish food ingredients and
enzymes makers Novozymes  NZYMb.CO  and Chr. Hansen  CHRH.CO 
are expected to secure EU antitrust approval for their all-share
$22 billion tie-up based on remedies offered to address
competition concerns, two people with direct knowledge of the
matter said on Wednesday.
    Novozymes, which makes enzymes for household products, food
and beverages and biofuels, and Chr. Hansen, an enzyme maker for
the food sector, last month offered to sell part of the combined
company's global lactase enzyme business, saying that a buyer
had already been found.
    The deal, the largest merger in Denmark, would create a
global ingredients giant.
    The European Commission which will make its final decision
by Dec. 12, declined to comment. Novozymes and Chr. Hansen did
not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    The companies expect to close the deal before the end of the
year or in the first quarter of 2024. Antitrust agencies in
China, Brazil, Turkey and the United States have already cleared
the merger.

 (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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