(Bloomberg) -- Royal DSM NV is among suitors exploring potential bids for DuPont de Nemours Inc.'s nutrition and bioscience business, which could be valued at as much as $25 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company has lined up advisers as it considers making an offer for the division, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. DuPont has also been reaching out to other potential bidders including Ireland's Kerry Group Plc and Swiss fragrances and flavorings maker Givaudan SA, one of the people said.
DuPont has recently sent confidentiality agreements to prospective buyers, the people said. The specialty chemicals maker has been evaluating options for the nutrition business including a sale or spinoff, as well as a type of tax-free merger known as a Reverse Morris Trust, Bloomberg News reported last month. It aims to conclude the review by the end of the year, though the timing could slip, one of the people said.
Shares of DSM fell as much as 3.3% in afternoon trading Monday, hitting the lowest intraday level in four weeks. They were down 1.3% at 4:12 p.m. in Amsterdam.
Coveted Business
No final decisions have been made, and there's no certainty the suitors will proceed with firm offers, the people said. Representatives for DuPont, DSM and Givaudan declined to comment. A representative for Kerry didn't immediately respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.
DowDuPont Inc.'s breakup is handing DSM Chief Executive Officer Feike Sijbesma an opportunity to buy a business he's long coveted. DuPont built its nutrition division with the 2011 acquisitions of enzyme maker Genencor International Inc. and Denmark's Danisco AS, which DSM already had a stake in. DuPont was eventually forced to raise its bid to succeed in the Danisco takeover, which was one of the factors that left it vulnerable to activist pressure and led to its eventual merger with Dow Chemical Co.
For Kerry, DuPont's nutrition business offers the opportunity to enhance its existing food ingredients business and move into bacteria cultures used in dairy products. Kerry started out as a dairy business in southwestern Ireland before expanding into flavorings and chilled food brands.
Givaudan spent about $1.6 billion last year to acquire Naturex, a French maker of organic plant-based flavorings. Shares of Givaudan have risen 16% over the past year, giving the Vernier-based company a market value of 25.5 billion euros.
--With assistance from Aaron Kirchfeld, Ellen Proper, David Hellier and Dinesh Nair.
To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Noël in London at anoel@bloomberg.net;Myriam Balezou in London at mbalezou@bloomberg.net;Kiel Porter in Chicago at kporter17@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, ;Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, ;Liana Baker at lbaker75@bloomberg.net, Matthew Monks
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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