Dutch firm offers $1.09 billion for Columbia-based Martek

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Royal DSM NV, the world’s biggest maker of vitamins, said Tuesday it will bid $1.09 billion in cash for Columbia-based biotech firm Martek Biosciences Corp., in a management-endorsed buyout that would improve its presence on the American infant formula market.

The Dutch chemicals company’s $31.50-per-share offer for Martek represents a 35 percent premium to Martek’s Monday closing price.

Martek shares surged $8.31, or 35.6 percent Tuesday, to close at $31.67.

DSM, based in the Netherlands, makes nutritional supplements, fibers used in bulletproof vests, and ingredients used in vaccines, as well as industrial chemicals.

DSM’s CEO Feike Sijbesma said the purchase “will add a new growth platform to our nutrition business,” while Martek would benefit from DSM’s larger distribution network.

“Culturally, the fit is very good,” Sijbesma said on a conference call. “We know the company.”

With $450 million of annual revenues, Martek offers fatty acids, ingredients for infant formula and dietary supplements to companies including Mead Johnson Nutrition, Kellogg’s, Danone, Nestle and General Mills.

Martek was founded in 1985. According to its most recent annual report, the company had 587 full-time employees as of Oct. 31, 2009, 42 of whom had doctoral degrees. The company said it had 139 employees engaged in research and development, and 283 in production or production development. An additional 165 are in administrative, business development and sales and marketing positions.

DSM said its offer will begin in mid-January and is conditional on receiving a majority of shares. It expects the deal to close in the second quarter.

DSM said the deal, which must also be approved by regulators, would add at least 0.15 euros to annual per share earnings in the first year.

Shares in DSM rose 4.5 percent to 42.845 euros in Amsterdam.

In November, DSM reported a third-quarter net profit of 79 million euros, or 0.76 euros per share, on sales of 2.15 billion euros. As of Tuesday, the company had a stockpile of more than 2 billion euros in cash due to profits and recent sales of several low-margin businesses.

Martek this month reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $6.2 million on higher costs and a hefty restructuring charge linked to the sale of assets at its Winchester, Ky., manufacturing facility. Revenue rose 36 percent to $119.1 million, on higher sales of nutritional ingredients and branded consumer health products. The results topped analysts’ average estimates.