Danisco

Danisco A/S is a Danish bio-based company with activities in food production, enzymes and other bioproducts as well as a wide variety of pharmaceutical grade excipients. It was formed in 1989 from the largest Danish industrial merger ever of the two old C.F. Tietgen companies Danish Sugar (founded 1872), and Dansk Handels- og Industri Company (Danisco A/S).[2][3]

Danisco A/S
TypeWholly owned subsidiary of DuPont
IndustryAgriculture, chemicals
Founded1989 (1989)
HeadquartersCopenhagen, Denmark
Key people
Craig F. Binetti (President)
ProductsEnzymes and excipients, bioingredients
RevenueDKK 13.71 billion (2009/10)[1]
DKK 895 million (2009/10)[1]
DKK 480 million (2009/10)[1]
OwnerDuPont
Number of employees
6,880 (April 2010)[1]
Websitewww.danisco.com

Danisco was one of the world's leading producers of ingredients for food and other consumer products and was also one of the biggest sugar producers in Europe until the divestment of its sugar division to Nordzucker[4] in 2009.

Headquartered in Copenhagen, the group has approximately 6,800 employees in more than 80 locations in 40 countries.[5]

Danisco shares were listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange and a member of the blue chip OMX Copenhagen 20 index until June 2011, when DuPont completed[6] a US$6.3 billion acquisition of the company.[7]

Activities

The company's activities were structured into two lines of business: Food Ingredients and Industrial enzymes. The Food Ingredients business supplied bio-based ingredients for food and beverage products and comprises the business segments Enablers, Cultures, and Sweeteners,[8] while the Industrial Enzymes business (handled by subsidiary Genencor) focuses on industrial biotechnology and encompasses business segments such as Fabric and Household Care (enzymes for laundry and dishwashing detergents), Technical Enzymes (enzymes for bioethanol and carbohydrate processing as well as textile treatment), and Food and Animal Nutrition (enzymes for bread, feed, and brewing applications).

Danisco also had two biochemical projects: DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, a biofuels joint venture with DuPont, and a project with Goodyear to develop a new type of synthetic rubber, called bioIsoprene.[9][10]

On 9 January 2011, DuPont announced that it had reached agreement to buy Danisco for US$6.3 billion.[11] The acquisition was motivated by a desire by DuPont "to gain production of food additives and enzymes used in biofuels."[12] On 16 May 2011 DuPont announced that its tender offer for Danisco had been successful and that it would proceed to redeem the remaining shares and delist the company.[13]

The food ingredients and enzyme businesses were combined with similar pre-existing efforts at DuPont into two business divisions named 'Nutrition and Health' and 'Industrial Biotechnologies'.

Research and development

A considerable number of the employees are engaged in research and development of new products for the international food industry.[14] Today, the Group holds more than 9,300 active patents and patent applications.[15] Their work led to the understanding of the mechanism of CRISPR, the bacterial antiviral defense.[16][17] CRISPR is a prokaryotic immune system that is both adaptive and inheritable.

References
  1. "Annual Report 2009/2010" (PDF). Danisco. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  2. Cortzen, Jan (1997). “Merchants And Mergers; The Story Of Danisco”. Borsens Forlag, Copenhagen.
  3. Nordic Sugar History, Shared history
  4. Nordzucker completes acquisition of Danisco Sugar and significantly expands market position Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine, Braunschweig / Copenhagen 03.03.09.
  5. Danisco A/S Business Information, Profile, and History, Companies, JRank
  6. "Danisco A/S - deletion". Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen. 10 June 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  7. Nicholson, Chris V. (16 May 2011). "DuPont Offer for Danisco Succeeds". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  8. Danisco A/S Snapshot, Corporate Information
  9. BioIsoprene, Goodyear concept tire with BioIsoprene technology wins ‘Environmental Achievement of the Year’ award.
  10. "BioIsoprene". Synthetic Biology Products and Applications Inventory. Woodrow Wilson Center. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  11. "DuPont to Acquire Danisco for $6.3 Billion -- WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --". prnewswire.com. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  12. Kaskey, Jack; Wienberg, Christian (18 February 2011), "DuPont extends Danisco deadline: China, EU have yet to approve $5.8B deal", DelawareOnline, Bloomberg News, OCLC 38962480, retrieved 19 February 2011
  13. "DuPont Successfully Completes Tender Offer for Danisco - Yahoo! Finance". finance.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2011-05-16.
  14. Danisco A/S Company Profile, Reference For Business
  15. Danisco In Brief, Danisco Publication
  16. The CRISPR Craze
  17. CRISPR Provides Acquired Resistance Against Viruses in Prokaryotes
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