Celanese Corporation (Dallas, Texas) has signed a definitive agreement to sell an additional 19% stake in Nutrinova Netherlands B.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), its food ingredients joint venture, to Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan) for approximately $152 million in cash. The transaction will reduce Celanese’s ownership in Nutrinova to 11% while lifting Mitsui’s stake to 89%, at which point Nutrinova will transition from an equity-method affiliate to a consolidated subsidiary of Mitsui.
Nutrinova produces Sunett acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), a high-intensity sweetener, as well as the preservatives sorbic acid and potassium sorbate — ingredients found in food and beverages worldwide. Mitsui first invested in Nutrinova in the fiscal year ended March 2024, running the business alongside Celanese since then.
Alongside the equity transaction, Mitsui has agreed to integrate into Nutrinova the upstream operations of VP4 Frankfurt GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany), a producer of the key intermediates required for Nutrinova’s sweetener and preservative products. VP4 is currently owned by Sudarshan Germany Horizons GmbH; Celanese will acquire and operate the diketene production facility — co-located with Nutrinova’s plant at the Industriepark Höchst in Frankfurt — for a transitional period before ownership passes to Nutrinova. In addition to the approximately $152 million in share sale proceeds, Nutrinova will provide Celanese with the facility’s full purchase price and cover all ongoing operating costs. Celanese will contribute the expertise of its process chemists, operators, and maintenance professionals to safely operate the asset, but is not obligated to provide any funding.
“We are pleased to have monetized an additional 19% of the Nutrinova joint venture and taken another step towards our goal of achieving $1 billion in divestiture proceeds by the end of 2027. Transaction proceeds will immediately work to reduce our net debt as part of our deleveraging plan, and we intend to use them to pay down upcoming debt maturities,” said Scott Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Celanese.
“The Nutrinova business has historically sourced these key inputs from external producers. When the opportunity arose to bring this production in-house, we were glad to be able to build upon our long-term strategic partnership with Mitsui and enable Nutrinova to achieve meaningful security of supply,” Richardson added. “We will continue to look for ways to strengthen our strategic partnerships while aggressively looking for opportunities to prudently deleverage the balance sheet.”
For Mitsui, the two moves — the additional equity acquisition and the upstream integration of VP4 — are both growth investments in its Food Science business, an area the company is expanding under Wellness Ecosystem Creation 2.0, one of the strategic priorities of its Medium-term Management Plan 2029. Bringing VP4 in-house gives Nutrinova a single, connected chain from raw materials through to finished products, securing reliable supply, sharpening cost competitiveness, and placing quality and supply chain management under unified control. Making Nutrinova a consolidated subsidiary will allow Mitsui to act more decisively in executing its strategy.
The transaction is subject to customary legal and regulatory closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Celanese is advised by Linklaters, LLP as legal counsel and A&O Shearman as tax counsel.