Neogen announces acquisition of VeroMara

Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ: NEOG) announced today that it has acquired the assets of the VeroMara seafood testing laboratory from its parent company, GlycoMar Ltd.

Based in Oban, Scotland, VeroMara offers testing services to the shellfish and salmon aquaculture industries. VeroMara's services include testing for shellfish toxins, general foodborne pathogens, including E. coli, noroviruses, and salmon husbandry. VeroMara recorded revenues of approximately $800,000 (U.S.) in its most recently completed fiscal year. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"The acquisition of VeroMara deepens Neogen's advancement into the aquatic sciences," said James Herbert, Neogen's CEO and chairman. "VeroMara's services are complementary and a nice fit with our existing product lines for the seafood industry, including one of our biggest food safety diagnostic products — our histamine tests for the tuna industry. The VeroMara purchase also provides Neogen with key collaborative relationships with influential aquaculture partners, and increased access to important international markets.

"Our new operation in Oban will work in close cooperation with our Neogen Europe headquarters in Ayr, Scotland, providing expanded products and services to a larger customer base," Herbert continued. "Our sales and marketing operations in Ayr have the capability to expand VeroMara's business to several other European countries."

"The sale of our VeroMara testing service allows GlycoMar to focus on our core business — marine natural product research and development," said Dr. Charles Bavington, GlycoMar's managing director. "We are pleased to have VeroMara join Neogen, a company we respect as being one of the world leaders in food safety. This transition will guarantee uninterrupted quality service to our customers."

In addition to its comprehensive line of rapid foodborne pathogen, sanitation monitoring and histamine tests that it offers the seafood industry, Neogen recently released rapid tests to detect toxins in shellfish that cause amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP). The detection of ASP and DSP toxins has been a key service VeroMara has offered its customers.