Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, announces that it has increased its equity stake in strategic partner ArtSci Biology Technologies (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd (“ArtSci”) moving to majority ownership, subject to registration by local authorities. ArtSci and Firmenich have been strategic partners since 2019, when Firmenich took a minority equity stake. This move will further strengthen Firmenich’s ability to serve the rapidly growing Chinese local market and extend its geographic reach across China. ArtSci will continue to operate as normal, with its management team remaining in place and fully committed to serving ArtSci customers. “Firmenich is committed to investing and growing in China following our decades’ long commitment to this key market,” said Gilbert Ghostine, CEO, Firmenich. “I am delighted to announce that we have moved to majority ownership of ArtSci in our established strategic partnership, which will open up new avenues of growth as we continue to combine ArtSci’s intimate understanding of Chinese customers, geographic reach and agility, with Firmenich’s innovation capabilities, consumer insights and unparalleled product quality.” “We are proud of the achievements of our strategic partnership with ArtSci, which combines their local expertise and agile business model with our industry-leading technology, creation and manufacturing,” said Paul Andersson, President, Firmenich China, “ArtSci is a dynamic and entrepreneurial company, and we are excited to move to the next phase of our partnership to better serve the rapidly growing Chinese market.”