Miller Magazine Issue: 131 November 2020

26 NEWS MILLER / November 2020 Royal DSM, a global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living, announces the completion of its acquisition of Erber Group for an enterprise value of € 980 million. DSM completes acquisition of Erber Group The transaction - which excludes two smaller units in the Erber Group - is expected to be earnings enhan- cing in the first year upon completion. The acquisition of Erber Group was first announced on 12 June 2020. DSM acquired Erber Group’s Biomin and Romer Labs. Erber Group’s specialty animal nutrition and health business Biomin specializes primarily in myco- toxin risk management and gut health performance management, whereas the Romer Labs business fo- cuses on food and feed safety diagnostic solutions. Both expand DSM’s range of higher value-add spe- cialty solutions. The acquisition of Erber Group’s Biomin further strengthens DSM’s expertise and reputation as a leading provider of animal health and nutrition solutions for farm productivity and sustainability, with an emphasis on emissions reduction, feed consumption efficiency, and better use of water and land. It is therefore very much aligned with DSM’s focus to make animal farming more sus- tainable from both an ecological and economical perspective. Romer Labs also complements DSM’s human nutrition and health offering to customers in the food & beverages market segments. Prices of wheat flour, a key staple food in Pakistan, increased further in September, re- flecting seasonal patterns exacerbated by tight market supplies, and reached record or near-record highs. Prices of wheat flour increased further in Pakistan The lower-than-anticipated production in 2020 fa- iled to alleviate the tight market availabilities caused by a combination of below-average 2018 and 2019 outputs, as well as strong exports and low procure- ment in 2019. In addition, increases in the prices of gas and petroleum products in August 2020 provided further support to wheat flour prices. In an effort to curb further price increases, the go- vernment has taken several measures to boost domes- tic availabilities, including the approval to purchase 180 000 tonnes of wheat from the Russian Federation on a government-to-government basis and the ten- dering for 1.5 million tonnes of wheat through the government-run Trading Corporation. In addition, pri- vate imports will also be allowed exempt from duties and taxes (FPMA Food Policies). As of early October 2020, the private sector had imported some 430 000 tonnes of wheat. FPMA