Following
the possession of majority ownership of South Africa’s food safety company,
Swift Micro Laboratories; America Food
safety and nutrition service oriented company, Mérieux
NutriSciences has expanded Silliker for the first time to South Africa.
The
acquisition gives birth to a new brand name, "Swift Silliker", for
the South African company.
Mérieux NutriSciences plans to grow its portfolio under the
new "Swift
Silliker" service portfolio to
match the global offerings of Silliker. The partnership gives Swift
immediate and continuous access to the state-of-the-art systems and services of
Mérieux NutriSciences.
Swift is
the largest privately-owned commercial food and product safety company in South
Africa. Swift Micro clients include food processors, retailers and food
services. The farming, government and cosmetics sectors also rely on its
analytical expertise.
According
to President and CEO of Mérieux NutriSciences, Philippe Sans, “This joint
venture investment is in line with our strategic goal to further expand our
international presence and answer the many requests from customers to develop a
presence in South Africa and the fast developing African market.”
“To date,
we have declined partnership approaches from global corporations, but the
venture with Mérieux NutriSciences, and in particular Silliker, its Food Safety
& Quality Division, is a natural fit. We not only share similar food and
product safety approaches, but we also share global clients that operate in
Southern Africa. As part of Silliker, Swift will benefit from the strength of
the group, and accelerate our development with the introduction of new services
for faster expansion in Africa,” said Valmé Stewart, Managing Director of Swift
Silliker.
Formerly known as Silliker
Group Corporation, Mérieux NutriSciences Corporation is an American company headquartered
in Chicago, IL, with a a global presence in 17 countries with over 65
laboratories throughout North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia
Pacific.
