WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, U.S. — The E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company has acquired full ownership of Solae LLC from Bunge Ltd., White Plains, New York, U.S., for approximately $448 million. Prior to the transaction, DuPont owned a 72% stake in Solae and Bunge owned the remaining 28%.

“This investment in Solae, along with the acquisition of Danisco last year, has significantly added to our leadership position in food ingredients,” said James C. Borel, executive vice-president at DuPont. “Solae’s scientific expertise and market leadership in soy is a critical element in our plans to enhance the quality and quantity of food for a growing global population.”

Drew Burke, chief financial officer for Bunge, said the transaction allows the company to “redeploy capital into our strategic, core businesses.”

Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., Solae was formed through a joint venture between DuPont and Bunge in 2003. The company focuses on the development of soy-based ingredients for inclusion in food and beverage products.

“Our customers will benefit from the full ownership of Solae as we can further increase the speed of innovation, food formulation and nutrition science capabilities across a wide range of specialty food ingredients,” said Craig F. Binetti, president of DuPont Nutrition and Health. “Our long-term segment financial targets are to post sales of 7% to 9% CAGR and expand pre-tax earnings margins to a range of 12% to 14%. With full ownership of Solae, DuPont anticipates delivering toward the upper end of our margin targets with the planned synergies.”