PHILADELPHIA – As the pioneer and global leader in post-harvest solutions for fresh produce, AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. announces the acquisition of Pace International LLC, including its domestic and overseas operations (“Pace”). Prior to the transaction, Pace was a subsidiary of Valent BioSciences LLC, a Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. group company. Pace is a respected global provider of sustainable post-harvest solutions, equipment and technical services. The acquisition of Pace bolsters AgroFresh’s presence in key fruit-growing regions in North and South America and further enables the company to support its global customers with quality and freshness solutions for high value and highly perishable crops.
Pace manufactures and supplies edible fruit coatings, fungicides, cleaners and sanitizers, sustainable storage treatments and application equipment for fresh produce. Integrating the Pace business expands AgroFresh’s post-harvest solutions to a broader portfolio of technology, services and digital solutions in both the organic and conventional produce categories, furthering AgroFresh’s ability to support customers in accomplishing their mission of protecting produce quality and freshness on its journey from harvest to home.
“This acquisition enables us to take another important step towards our vision— to be regarded by customers as the post-harvest partner of choice. We are excited to bring the combined portfolios, technical expertise and services of both companies to customers,” says Clint Lewis, CEO at AgroFresh. “Bringing together our two companies allows us to better address the complete needs of customers across a broad array of crops, markets and at every step in the fresh supply chain, ultimately helping customers produce and deliver an abundant supply of quality fresh produce, sustainably.”
In addition to integrating the Pace business into the company, AgroFresh and Valent BioSciences plan to develop a strategic collaboration to accelerate the development of innovation to address the most pressing challenges in the freshness protection space. This collaboration aims to capitalize on the expertise and technology pipeline of Valent BioSciences to develop new post-harvest products, services and digital solutions and to leverage AgroFresh’s global scale and reach to bring them to market.
“Acquisition of the Pace business by AgroFresh will create a post-harvest solutions platform that benefits customers and the food protection industry as a whole through stronger global reach, enhanced services and additional innovation capabilities,” says Salman Mir, President and CEO of Valent BioSciences. “We are excited to collaborate with AgroFresh in developing and commercializing new products, technologies and services that will address key customer challenges.”
With the addition of Pace, AgroFresh is better positioned to address customers’ needs through a full portfolio of products and capabilities. This will be realized along with a continued commitment to advancing innovation in the post-harvest sector and supporting customers in their effort to grow and distribute an abundant supply of sustainable, quality, fresh produce around the world.
AgroFresh Solutions Inc. is a portfolio company of Paine Schwartz Partners, a global leader in sustainable food chain investing. Deutsche Bank served as financial advisor and Morrison & Foerster served as AgroFresh’s legal advisor for the transaction.
To learn more about AgroFresh and Pace International, visit: www.agrofresh.com and www.paceint.com.
