Royal DSM a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials and Amyris, Inc, the industrial bioscience company, have enhanced their strategic alliance through the sale of Amyris Brasil Ltda to DSM and the establishment of a long-term manufacturing partnership for Amyris high-volume products.  

The consideration for Amyris Brasil Ltda, which owns and operates the Brotas 1 production facility, and intellectual property related to farnesene, a bio-based key intermediate for many applications, is US$58 million. 

On top of this, there is an additional value share arrangement over a three-year period amounting to US$37.5 million. In addition to the consideration upfront, there is potential for a future value share in line with Amyris business model.

DSM will continue existing supply-agreements to Amyris and other parties and will also supply Amyris with specialty compounds until it realizes its Brotas 2 specialties production facility. 

Speedy construction 
Amyris says it is accelerating the construction of its second facility which will be dedicated to specialty products while maintaining the manufacturing process development and business support capability located in Campinas, Brazil.

The transaction is subject to the usual conditions and is expected to close in the next few months.

With the acquisition of the Brotas 1 facility, DSM adds a state-of-the-art biotechnology-based production site in Brazil to its global network, with abundant availability of sustainable raw materials, namely sugar cane, securing production capacity for its rich pipeline of sustainable and bio-based solutions. 

Having broad experience in operating large-scale fermentation plants, DSM will optimize the operational performance of the site.

The strategic alliance between DSM and Amyris started in May 2017 with an equity investment by DSM in Amyris and has since been expanded with several significant product development collaborations.  

The sale of the Brotas 1 facility, which was designed to produce high volumes of farnesene, together with the creation of a long-term production relationship for high-volume farnesene-based intermediates, will enable Amyris to focus on its core strength of developing breakthrough bioscience technologies, says DSM. 

The company will continue to target key markets and concentrate on the production of specialty products.

“Following our equity investment in Amyris and subsequent product development cooperation, I am pleased that we can add a state-of-the-art fermentation-based production facility to our network,” said Chris Goppelsroeder, President & CEO of DSM Nutritional Products.

“Our know-how in fermentation, downstream process development and large-scale manufacturing will allow us to further improve the operational performance of the facility while further strengthening our strategic alliance with Amyris.”

Amyris President & CEO, John Melo, adds how pleased the company is with the continued strategic alliance with DSM. 

“This manufacturing partnership and the sale of our Brotas 1 factory allows us to accelerate the development and manufacturing of specialty, high-performance ingredients,” he said.

“We are building a specialty plant at Brotas (Brotas 2) and also expect to complete our São Martinho plant to focus on sweeteners. The combination of these actions provides us the manufacturing footprint to meet our current demand through the next three to five years and to manage this within our funding constraints.”

“This transaction completes a planned shift from operating a plant originally designed to produce high volumes of farnesene, to producing an expanding number of high-value, specialty ingredients. This shift will allow Amyris to improve returns and cash flows in order to continue to provide sustainable growth for Amyris and its partners.”