Staff at Quest International's flavours facility in the Wirral were waiting to find out what new owner Givaudan had in store for the business as Food Manufacture went to press.
Givaudan, which transferred production from its UK flavours facility in Milton Keynes to Germany in 2003, said it was confident of saving £64M a year through the integration of Quest. However, it declined to comment on whether there would be plant closures or job losses following the expected completion in the first quarter 2007 of its £1.2bn acquisition of the whole Quest group from ICI.
The combined business will be a leading player in the global flavours and fragrances industry with annual sales topping £1.75bn and a workforce of more than 9,000.