Watson Inc., a West Haven company that supplies ingredients to the food and supplements industries, will be acquired by Glanbia Nutritionals, a subsidiary of Glanbia, PLC, a public company headquartered in Ireland. The sales price is $89 million, the companies announced Tuesday.
Founded in 1939, Watson is a third-generation family-owned company that employs some 300 workers in West Haven and at a manufacturing facility in Illinois. Its business, according to the company’s website, is leveraging its expertise in microencapsulation, agglomeration, micronizing, spray drying and film technology to develop ingredients for some of the leading branded food companies in the world.
Glanbia Nutritionals is a $1.4 billion nutritional solutions and cheese business with operations in 19 countries. Its products include proteins, custom nutrient premixes, cheese, bioactives, plant-based nutrition ingredients, flavors, micronutrients and aseptic beverages. These products are sold in more than 130 countries into the food and beverage, sports nutrition, clinical nutrition, infant nutrition, supplements, personal care and animal-nutrition markets.
Said Watson President James Watson in a statement: “Choosing the right partner to take our company to new heights was a significant business and family decision. We are honored to join Glanbia, whose values, culture and mission match those of Watson.” He added that the firm’s leadership team, including Watson and his three siblings in the business, will remain with the Glanbia Nutritionals organization.
Said Tom Tench, COO of Glanbia Nutritionals: “We are excited to welcome the 300 employees of Watson with their established reputation of expertise, technical capability and commitment to excellence. We have admired the Watson organization for many years and are honored to carry on the legacy of the company. Glanbia and Watson customers will enjoy increased combined capabilities, global coverage and continued focus on quality.”
The Southport M&A advisory firm of Carter Morse & Goodrich represented Watson in the deal.
Contact Michael Bingham at mbingham@newhavenbiz.com
