PARIS — Colloides Naturels International, a member company of the Iranex Group, and the two other member companies, Bio Serae Laboratories and Nutriprocess, will merge into one company on Nov. 7. The new company will be called Nexira.

Colloides Naturels International (C.N.I) currently offers such acacia gum ingredients as Equacia and Fibregum.
Nexira will have operations in more than 80 countries with 10 distribution subsidiaries and eight production plants worldwide. It will generate more than €83 million ($114 million) of revenue annually, 90% of which will be from exports, and it will target annual revenue of €120 million ($165 million) by 2015.

Nexira will have three divisions. Nexira Food will focus on acacia gum, also known as gum Arabic, and offer a range of ingredients such as emulsifiers, texturizers, encapsulation and coating agents. Nexira Health will have a portfolio of natural extracts, including a range of ingredients for weight management, anti-stress and digestive comfort. Nexira Technology will focus on such technologies as spray drying, co-drying, encapsulation and micro-encapsulation.

Nexira plans to make an acquisition in North America in 2012 and another acquisition in Europe in 2013.

Nexira will invest €5 million between now and 2012 to extend the production capacity of its industrial facilities in Rouen, France, and Serqueux, France. The company also plans to invest another €5 million to €7 million in a production plant in India. A new plant in Ghana will strengthen the company’s presence in Africa.

As a result of the new production capacity and investments in R.&D., Nexira aims to launch two new products per year.