Israel-based flavours and fine ingredients producer Frutarom Industries has acquired a 100% stake in Swiss savoury solutions firm Mühlehof Gewürze (Mühlehof).

Funded through bank debt, the deal is the sixth acquisition for the Israeli company this year.

Frutarom is reported to have paid $7m to purchase all the shares in Mühlehof.

The acquisition is expected to further strengthen Frutarom’s presence in Switzerland and provide a platform to exploit synergies in R&D, sales, operations, purchasing and logistics.

"This is another acquisition of activity in Frutarom’s core field, which strengthens our market leadership in the field of savoury overall and in Switzerland in particular."

According to the deal, Frutarom will be acquiring Mühlehof’s site in Switzerland that is used for development, manufacturing and marketing activities.

Frutarom Group president and CEO Ori Yehudai said: "This is another acquisition of activity in Frutarom’s core field, which strengthens our market leadership in the field of savoury overall and in Switzerland in particular, and enables us to offer our customers and Mühlehof customers a broader portfolio of solutions based on the innovation and technologies of Frutarom products in the savoury segment, and to even further improve our service with our now having a production base in Switzerland in the field of savoury solutions.”

Established in 1979, Mühlehof develops, produces and markets savoury taste solutions, which include flavours, seasoning blends, marinades and functional ingredients for the food industry.

Mühlehof has a broad customer base, which includes Swiss retail chains for which Frutarom foresees a large number and variety of cross-selling opportunities.