Lesaffre acquires Altar, a company owned by Ginkgo Bioworks

October 14, 2024

Lesaffre, a global player in the field of fermentation and microorganisms, has acquired Altar, a French start-up specializing in Adaptive Laboratory Evolution (ALE).

Altar is a French biotech company founded in 2017. Altar has developed a technology enabling the continuous, uninterrupted cultivation of microorganisms’ cultures under controlled conditions to select strains with specific properties, for as long as required.

Brice-Audren Riché, CEO of Lesaffre, said the company sees fermentation as a transformative solution to nourish a growing global population in a safer, healthier, and more sustainable way. “As a leader in bioengineering and bioprocesses, we naturally place research, development, and innovation at the heart of our success,” he noted. “Our strong commitment to R&D reflects our mission to better nourish and protect our planet. In recent years, this dedication has only intensified, as evidenced by our strategic investments. First, we established the Lesaffre Campus – a state-of-the-art hub designed to accelerate innovation leveraging the latest architectural and technological advancements. Additionally, we have bolstered our R&D capabilities through the strategic acquisition of three companies specializing in fermentation research over the past three years.”

This deal includes Lesaffre’s integration of Altar’s team, its know-how and the machines designed and used by the teams daily. This technology, mastered by its users for years now, is a real asset for Lesaffre, complementing its existing range of technologies. The deal closed at the end of September 2024.

“At Lesaffre, we are convinced that today’s RD&I are the products of tomorrow. By investing today in our innovation capabilities, we give our research and development experts the means to develop healthier, more sustainable products that best meet the needs of our customers. We are very pleased to welcome the Altar team to Lesaffre and to be able to join forces to build the solutions of tomorrow together,” said Christine M’Rini, chief RD&I officer at Lesaffre.

Based in Evry (Ile-de-France) within Genopole, the first French Biocluster dedicated to biotechnology, Altar’s 14 employees are integrated within Lesaffre Institute of Science and Technology, the RD&I department of Lesaffre.

“Lesaffre’s acquisition of Altar, our French subsidiary, allows Ginkgo to refocus strategically, while enabling Lesaffre to go even further in innovating and responding to the major challenges of tomorrow. We are excited to maintain our access to this powerful technology, developed and scaled by the Altar team on Ginkgo’s platform, which nicely complements Lesaffre’s know-how in the field of microorganisms,” said Ena Cratsenburg, chief business officer at Ginkgo Bioworks.

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