About 95 Eastman Gel employees associated with the business will continue with the business following the closing. Included in the sale is 575,000 square foot of production space in Peabody, Mass.
Eastman Gel has been successfully managing the transition of the photographic market by increasingly expanding its sales into non-photographic categories, such as the pharmaceutical, edible protein and food/confectionary categories.
Kruchten noted that Rousselot is positioned to help Eastman Gelatine continue the recent growth in its sales outside the photographic industry.
Dirk Kloosterboer, Vice Chairman of the Vion board, welcomes the acquisition of Eastman Gel as an important opportunity to strengthen Rousselot’s position in both growing pharmaceutical markets and its current position in North America. "This acquisition contributes to our strategy of worldwide presence in gelatine and proximity to customers,” Kloosterboer said.