Solazyme, Roquette Ending Venture
Solazyme Inc. and Roquette Freres SA ended a venture to develop and bring to market algae-based nutritional products.
Solazyme Roquette Nutritionals LLC, will be dissolved in the coming weeks, according to a statement. The venture, established in November 2010, was equally owned by both companies. Roquette had agreed to provide all the capital expenditures and working capital to produce the nutrition products for the venture.
“The decision to terminate the joint venture was driven by divergent views on an acceptable commercial strategy and timeline for the manufacturing and marketing of joint venture products,” Solazyme said in the statement.
Solazyme, based in South San Francisco, makes oil from algae that can be used in fuels and chemicals, nutrition and skin and personal care. The company in December reached commercial-scale production of the renewable oil at an Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. plant in Iowa.
The venture aimed to commercialize microalgae-based healthy food ingredients and oils to boost the nutritional content and “functionality” of food items, according to the website of the joint venture.
The company started trading on Nasdaq in 2011 and at the time said it intended to rely on “third parties” to make and process its renewable products. Failure of these parties to process the products on time and at a low-cost may result in delays to the commercialization of its technology, it said in its prospectus.
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