CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre advises Givaudan Group as preferred bidder for the acquisition of Soliance from ARD

CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre advised the Givaudan Group, global leader in the fragrance and flavour industry, as the preferred bidder for the acquisition of 100% of the capital of Soliance from ARD (Agro Industrie Recherches et Développements).

Soliance is a French company which develops, produces and markets active ingredients for the cosmetics industry. In 2013, the company generated turnover of €20.7 million. It is a subsidiary of ARD, a state-of-the-art research centre for technologies related to plant cracking and the leader at the IAR (Industrie Agro Ressources) competitive cluster focused on the agro-industry with a global focus. Created in the eighties, this structure aims to create value with non-food products for plants grown in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France.

CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre team was composed of Christophe Lefaillet (Partner) and Jean-Charles Daguin for Corporate/M&A aspects, by Jean-Christophe Sauzey (Partner) and Sébastian Boyxen for tax matters, and by Nicolas de Sevin (Partner) on employment issues. The following also participated: for aspects of real estate law, Aline Divo (Partner), Céline Cloché-Dubois and Sylvain Dubois, and for intellectual property aspects Antoine Gendreau (Partner) and Prudence Cadio.

ARD was assisted by Judith Fargeot (Partner) and Louise Rials from the law firm Vivien & Associés.

About Givaudan:
Givaudan is the global leader in the fragrance and flavour industry, selling its products to international, regional and local companies in the beverages, consumer goods and fragrance sectors. Its Flavours division has four segments: Beverages, Dairy, Savoury and Confectionery. The Fragrances division has three segments: Fine Fragrances, Consumer Products and Fragrance Ingredients. Givaudan’s Registered Office is in Vernier in Switzerland. The company holds a market share of 25% in an industry estimated to be worth around CHF 17 billion globally. Quoted on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX Swiss Exchange) since June 2000, it ranks amongst the country’s top 30 listed companies in terms of market capitalisation. In 2013, Givaudan recorded turnover of CHF 4.4 billion. The company employs over 9,000 people and has subsidiaries in over 40 countries. Present in all major markets, Givaudan has a network of over 80 sites in both developed and developing regions.

For more information, please contact:

• Nicolas Merigeau, NewCap
  nmerigeau@newcap.fr
  +33 1 44 71 94 98
  
• CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre
  Florence Jouffroy, Marketing and Communication Director
  Laetitia Mostowski, External Communication Manager
  florence.jouffroy@cms-bfl.com, laetitia.mostowski@cms-bfl.com
  +33 1 47 38 40 32 / 40 74