Amyris & NIKKOL GROUP Create Leading Cosmetics Ingredient Joint Venture
Leading Global Cosmetic Ingredient Innovator Joins Amyris to Accelerate Growth of Leading Cosmetic Skin Care Ingredient Business
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Dec. 13, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amyris, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMRS), the industrial bioscience company, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to establish a cosmetic ingredients joint venture with NIKKOL GROUP ("NIKKOL"), a leading Japanese cosmetic specialty chemical provider. NIKKOL is purchasing 50% of the Amyris Neossance business for up to $20 million in total. Amyris will receive $10 million of the purchase price upfront and the remaining $10 million is structured as an earn out over the first three years of the joint venture operation.
"NIKKOL is an ideal partner for this joint venture and is the leading channel partner for our squalane business," said John Melo, Amyris President and CEO. "This agreement is another key step among several in our stated plan to build greater value for our business, and ensure access to partner-driven growth capital while positioning the company to significantly expand product sales. This aligns with our strategy of focusing our business on partnering with the world's leading companies to accelerate our product sales growth while lowering our operating costs. We expect squalane sales through to end customers to continue growing at better than 50% annually while our expenses will be reduced by over $1.5 million annually as a result of this partnership."
"NIKKOL has been involved in the sugarcane-based squalane business since the product's inception by Amyris and we believe this is an opportune time to join forces," said Shizuo Ukaji, President & CEO of Nikko Chemicals Co., Ltd. in NIKKOL. "By working together, we believe the additional financial, marketing, innovation, and business development synergies will lead to a significant expansion in market applications."
NIKKOL has been a long-term distributor of Amyris's cosmetic ingredients in the Japanese market and a key partner of Amyris in helping grow the business. As a world leader in personal care ingredients segment, it is anticipated that NIKKOL's participation in the joint venture will support even greater sales growth while further establishing a market leadership position.
