FRANCE – Roquette, a global leader in plant-based ingredients for Food, Nutrition and Health markets, has announced it has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Sethness Products Company, the global leader in the production of high quality caramel color for Food & Beverage markets.

According to the company, the family business founded in the USA in 1880 and headquartered in Skokie (IL); Sethness Products Company, it shares with Roquette the values of product excellence and long-term vision for over 135 years.

The company has solely focused on the production of caramel color and offers the highest-quality products on the market today.

Sethness provides a large selection of caramel colors (in liquid and powdered forms) as well as a variety of clean-label caramel color options (non-GMO, certified organic, gluten-free, allergen-free, etc.).

Its four manufacturing facilities located in the USA, France, India and China supply the world’s leading Food & Beverage companies. In addition to their shared family values, Roquette and Sethness have a strong partnership as they operate two successful JVs in France and in China.

The company also reported that the closing of the acquisition of Sethness is expected to occur in Q3 2018.

The closing remains subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions and, until then, Sethness remains 100% owned and managed by the existing shareholders.

“This acquisition will help accelerate Roquette’s growth plan in the Food & Beverage market, and further drive value for our customers.

We have been very happy to successfully partner with Sethness in France and China for years.

We are looking forward to working with their talented teams to continue addressing customers’ current and future needs everywhere in the world,” said Jean-Marc Gilson, CEO of Roquette.

Chuck Sethness, Representative of the Sethness family, said: “Today is an important day in our long history.

Over the past 135-years, our family-owned company has strived to offer the highest quality caramel color products to the most recognized players in the Food & Beverage industry.

I am pleased that Roquette, a Group with which we share common values and a long-term vision, will now continue to leverage on the strong assets of both companies to reinforce its relationships with clients for the benefit of consumers globally.”