Hygiena to Acquire Food Safety Diagnostics Business from DuPont

CAMARILLO, Calif., and WILMINGTON, Del. – DuPont Nutrition & Health and Hygiena, a Warburg Pincus portfolio company that specializes in rapid food safety and environmental sanitation testing, announced that Hygiena will acquire DuPont’s global food safety diagnostics business. The acquisition includes all of DuPont Diagnostics business assets, including the BAX and RiboPrinter Systems and associated test kits; a global and technically trained sales, R&D and manufacturing organization; and in-house production capacity. The business was formed by DuPont in 1992 as Qualicon, and Hygiena will retain the Qualicon name. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, pending customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

DuPont Diagnostics provides innovative, science-based microbial detection and monitoring products that identify and characterize pathogens and other unwelcome organisms in food ingredients, finished products and production environments. Shortly after the formation of the business, DuPont pioneered Nobel-prize-winning PCR technology in commercial food safety testing with the BAX® System for pathogen detection. Today, the BAX® System has been adopted as the leading detection method by food manufacturers, food quality laboratories and governments around the world. Hygiena plans to invest behind new product development to continue the DuPont Diagnostics history of market-leading innovation.

“The combination of DuPont Diagnostics and Hygiena will create a broad food safety diagnostics company that can better serve our customers,” said Steve Nason, chief executive officer of Hygiena. “The combined company’s microbiology products will cover the full manufacturing process, from in-process environmental tests to finished product tests. In addition, the combination increases our customer service presence in the United States and internationally, which will allow us to further enhance our research and development efforts and support to our combined customer base.”

“This transaction is a strategic business decision that will allow DuPont Nutrition & Health to focus on growth opportunities that are more closely aligned with our core portfolio of specialty food ingredients,” said Matthias Heinzel, president, DuPont Nutrition & Health. “We believe that the Diagnostics business is an excellent strategic fit with Hygiena. Together they will be better able to offer greater opportunities for growth and investment in innovative solutions for the global pathogen testing industry.”