Danisco Venture investment extends food safety reach
incoming EU rules, the venture capital arm of Danish ingredients
firm Danisco will invest in French food safety company TMI Europe.
Danisco Venture, the sole investor in this financing round, will get a minority stake in TMI Europe for an undisclosed sum.
Particularly attractive to Danisco, a leader in food preservative systems, the French biotech firm has developed an enzymatic food safety system, patent protected and approved by the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) for vegetable use.
Based on the natural enzyme, Lactoperoxidase, the Catallix system "has the potential to replace existing chemical systems, based on, for example, chlorine, to treat vegetables, fruits, meat, against bacterial infections."
Incoming EU rules mean chlorine solutions to decontaminate food products will be forbidden in 2006. TMI and Danisco Ventures believe the Catallix brand will penetrate the new market opportunities for natural anti-microbial solutions thrown up by the new EU regulations.
"Having a corporate venture investor as Danisco on board underlines the high potential of our natural anti-microbial system, Catallix," said Philippe Bordeau, the CEO of TMI Europe.
Details of the deal were not made available, but Danisco Venture has a nest egg of about EUR 67 million to invest in activities relevant to the mother firm.
"TMI will succeed in penetrating several food safety segments and become a healthy investment for Danisco Venture," added Jakob Rybak-Andersen, investment director at Danisco Venture.
