HOLZMINDEN, GERMANY — Symrise AG announced on June 17 that it has received an offer from Oterra, formerly known as Chr. Hansen Natural Colors A/S, to acquire its natural food coloring activities, which include approximately 80 employees of Diana Food in two production facilities located in France and the United Kingdom.

“Symrise welcomes the offer from Oterra,” said Jean-Yves Parisot, PhD, president of Flavor & Nutrition at Symrise. “It supports our goal to strengthen the focus of the Flavor & Nutrition segment on its core expertise in taste, nutrition and health in food, pet food and aqua feed application areas. For strategic reasons it therefore makes a lot of sense for us to seek a partnership with a potential buyer and divest the food coloring business.”

The two production sites that would be affected by a potential transaction include a location in Cossé le Vivien in the northwest of France. The Cossé le Vivien plant has approximately 60 employees and has a long history of red beet and carrot processing.

Meanwhile, the site in Holbeach in the southern East Midlands of England employs 14 people and produces an extensive range of natural and synthetic colors for the food, beverage and related industries.

Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Oterra in mid-May adopted its new name, which is the Latin word for earth. The rebranding reflects the company’s commitment to provide colors from natural sources and to contribute to food that is natural, authentic, safe and sustainable, according to the Oterra.

“We are thrilled at the prospect of welcoming the entire natural colors team of Diana Food, and their dedicated customers to the Oterra family,” said Odd Erik Hansen, chief executive officer of Oterra. “Diana Food has built an impressive business under Symrise, and we look forward to continuing Diana Food’s strong customer and supplier relationships. This deal will further strengthen Oterra’s access to high quality raw materials, and complement our agronomy competencies.”

This will be the second acquisition for Oterra, following the recent announcement to acquire SECNA Natural Ingredients Group S.L.