Turpaz Industries: acquires Clarys + Willich group

Holon / IL. (tin) Turpaz Industries continues the integrated growth strategy and acquires the Belgian and German Clarys + Willich group. In the purchase agreement reported, Turpaz announced that the group will purchase 100 percent of Clarys + Willich, via the subsidiary, Food Ingredients Technologies SA (FIT), for a total of 47.7 million USD, of which the sellers will invest back in FIT a total of 20.6 million USD against the allocation to the sellers of 24.5 percent of the share capital and voting rights in FIT.

(Photo: Turpaz Industries)

The Clarys + Willich group, founded in 1970, is a leading company in the field of savory flavors, functional solutions and unique raw materials for the meat and baking sector (see «Willich Tauchmassen» respective «Clarys Foodingredients»). They have two state-of-the-art factories and development laboratories in Belgium and Germany, an extensive leading customer base in Europe, and a very wide range of solutions and products. In 2023, the Clarys Willich group’s turnover was 35.1 million USD, and adjusted Ebitda was 6.4 million USD. The group employs 70 people.

Turpaz-Chairperson Karen Cohen Khazon: «This is an important and significant strategic acquisition that establishes the position of Turpaz Industries as one of the largest and leading companies in Europe in the field of flavor, and strengthens its presence and positioning as a leading global manufacturer of savory flavor solutions and advanced baking solutions. Clarys-Willich’s activity is particularly synergistic with that of Turpaz and will be integrated with the successful activities of the Belgian company, FIT, which was purchased by Turpaz in October 2021, as well as with Turpaz Israel’s activities.»

The purchase agreement includes an option (put/call) for the purchase of the seller’s remaining shares in FIT, exercisable by Turpaz within 3 years from the date of completion of the transaction and up to 5 years from the date of completion, at a price based on FIT’s business performance from January 01, 2024 until exercising the option, minus FIT’s net debt at the time of exercise. At the same time, an option (put/call) was given to the CEO of FIT, who after the purchase holds 30.2 percent of FIT shares, exercisable within 5 years from the date of completion of the transaction at the mentioned exercise price.

The purchase of the Clarys + Willich group is a strategic purchase for Turpaz, which fits into the group’s strategy to increase the scope of its activities in the field of flavors and solutions for food, while focusing on the development of natural, healthy, innovative and unique products with high added value. The activity of the Clarys + Willich group is synergistic to a large extent with Turpaz’s activities and it is expected to enable Turpaz to strengthen its product offering and to leverage and realize the cross-selling possibilities that this purchase generates, both by increasing the customer base and by expanding the product portfolio.

The sellers, Kurt Clarys and Volker Willich, who have many years of management experience in the industry of unique solutions for food, will continue their managerial role in the coming years in the Clarys + Willich group, together with the FIT management team, and will join the management team of the Turpaz group.

Kurt Clarys: «Joining the Turpaz Group is a significant step for Clarys + Willich. Knowing its capabilities, technology and the impressive and unique product portfolio of the Turpaz Group in the food and beverage sector, we are very much looking forward to the next stage in the development of Clarys + Willich, and to expand its activities while leveraging Turpaz’s global reach.»

Volker Willich: «In partnership with Turpaz, we anticipate leveraging our shared knowledge and global presence to promote mutual growth opportunities. The partnership expresses our commitment to continue providing unprecedented value and innovative solutions to our customers around the world.»

FIT-CEO David Landau: «The addition of Clarys + Willich marks a strategic and exciting step for the Turpaz Group towards global growth and development. I look forward to working together with Kurt and Volker to lead the Savory business and unique baking solutions to new heights in order to enrich our product portfolio and increase the solutions we provide to our customers.»

This is the second strategic acquisition for Turpaz in 2024, after the purchase of the South African food company, Sunspray, which was purchased in exchange for 14.1 million USD. Turpaz is a multinational company operating in the global markets of flavor, fragrance and raw materials, and has more than 2,650 customers in more than 60 countries. Turpaz’s products are intended for the food and beverage industries, as well as supplying flavors and fragrances, pharmaceuticals, medicinal plants (nutraceuticals), health food and functional food, and unique raw materials.