Alantra advises Chr. Hansen Holding A/S on acquisition of UAS Laboratories LLC

Jul 2020

Buy-side advisory

Value $530 million

BOSTON, July 28, 2020 – Alantra, a leading global investment bank and asset management firm, is pleased to announce it has advised Chr. Hansen Holding A/S (“Chr. Hansen”) on the acquisition of 100% of UAS Laboratories LLC (“UAS Labs”), a US vertically integrated producer of probiotic cultures, private label products, and contract manufacturing solutions. Alantra acted as exclusive financial advisor to Chr. Hansen on this transaction, which was signed in early June and closed yesterday, following anti-trust review. The transaction value, net of tax assets, was $530m.

Chr. Hansen is a leading, global bioscience company that develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Chr. Hansen retained Alantra to execute on this acquisition opportunity, which is in line with its stated strategy of pursuing bolt-on acquisitions that fit within its global microbial platform.

UAS Labs, a portfolio company of Lakeview Equity Partners, has 230 employees across its finished goods manufacturing facility in Wausau, WI, and its recently completed fermentation facility in Madison, WI. By acquiring UAS Labs, Chr. Hansen will become a fully integrated probiotic player, serving customers across the value chain from R&D to finished products.

“We are happy to have been able to assist Chr. Hansen in the acquisition of UAS Labs,” said Joseph Downing, Managing Director & Partner at Alantra. “The two businesses share a strong commitment to microbial science as well as similar workplace cultures. We believe this deal will result in an excellent fit for both businesses going forward.”

Josh Garver, Managing Director at Alantra added, “This transaction adds to Alantra’s strong track record of advisory services within the Food & Nutritional Ingredients market. We are pleased that our sector insights and perspectives were able to help Chr. Hansen on this transaction.”

The Alantra team advising Chr. Hansen on this targeted acquisition included Joseph Downing (Managing Director & Partner, Boston), Josh Garver (Managing Director, Boston), Sebastian Hougaard (Managing Partner, Copenhagen), Mike O’Connell (Vice President, Boston) and Tim Orie (Analyst, Boston).