• Peugeot Invest and Continental Grain Company (Conti), together with long-term shareholders, are supporting the financing of the acquisition of Certified Group and Mérieux NutriSciences’ broader strategy to strengthen its global leadership in food safety, quality, and sustainability.

CHICAGO and LYON, France, Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mérieux NutriSciences, a global leader in food safety, quality, and sustainability, today announced that Peugeot Invest and Conti will become strategic minority shareholders in the Company, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

This investment will help finance the recently announced agreement to acquire Certified Group. With approximately $300 million in revenue and a network of 31 laboratories across North America, Certified Group will expand the Company’s scale and capabilities in the world’s largest food testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) market, estimated at over $2,5 billion*.

The acquisition will strengthen Mérieux NutriSciences’ laboratory footprint, bringing the Company closer to its customers and enabling localized and time-sensitive delivery, and continued investment in advanced testing technologies. It will also add complementary capabilities in core food sectors, including animal protein, dairy, and packaged foods, while expanding Mérieux NutriSciences’ expertise in adjacent markets such as cosmetics, health supplements, over-the-counter drugs, and reduced-harm nicotine. This extensive network of expertise will enable the Company to offer a broader range of services to its customers worldwide and reinforces the Company’s commitment to delivering highly practical, innovative solutions to everyday challenges faced by its customers.

For Peugeot Invest and Conti, these strategic investments represent a strong commitment to the TIC industry, a resilient B2B sector driven by heightened consumer safety expectations. Upon closing of the Certified Group transaction, both investors will support Mérieux NutriSciences through representation on its Board of Directors.

Jean-Charles Douin, CEO of Peugeot Invest, commented: “We continue to build a portfolio of investments in sectors where we have strong, long-term convictions. We are delighted to partner with Institut Mérieux to support Mérieux NutriSciences in this new phase of growth in North America. As a global player in food safety, the company perfectly aligns with our ambition to support premier businesses as they navigate their market transformations”.

Ari Gendason, co-CEO of Conti, added: “Conti’s mission is to help build the businesses that will feed the world. For over two hundred years we have invested in and helped operate companies across the food and agribusiness spectrum; the TIC industry sits at the center of this ecosystem, ensuring the resiliency and safety of the world’s food supply. Mérieux NutriSciences has built a preeminent TIC platform, rooted in scientific excellence, deep technical expertise, and trusted customer relationships. We are delighted to partner with the Mérieux NutriSciences management team and its exceptional group of long-term owners to help the company realize its mission of becoming a first-choice food safety and quality provider in North America and globally”.

By welcoming Peugeot Invest and Conti as minority shareholders alongside majority owner Institut Mérieux, Mérieux NutriSciences is choosing trusted partners who share its entrepreneurial values, operational expertise, and long-term vision.

“We are delighted to announce this agreement with Peugeot Invest and Conti to become strategic shareholders in Mérieux NutriSciences,” said Alexandre Mérieux, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Institut Mérieux and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mérieux NutriSciences. “Their investment marks an important step in our development and reinforces our ability to execute our long-term growth ambitions. Over the past years, we have consistently expanded our capabilities and proximity to customers, which will be reinforced pending completion of the acquisition of Certified Group. Together, these milestones are helping us build a global platform, combining scientific excellence, regulatory expertise, and proximity to customers worldwide. I would also like to recognize the renewed commitment of our long-term shareholders, Sofina and Dassault Group. Their support reflects confidence in our strategy to further expand our global leadership position in food safety, quality, and sustainability in order to increase the value we bring to our customers. With the backing of Peugeot Invest, Conti, and all our shareholders, Mérieux NutriSciences is ideally positioned to amplify its impact”.

About Mérieux NutriSciences: At Mérieux NutriSciences, we leverage 60 years of scientific and entrepreneurial expertise to answer food industry needs. Today’s global challenges transform the way food is produced, marketed and consumed, which is why we know our clients need more than reliable analytical results; they need practical and innovative solutions that will contribute to make food systems safer, healthier and more sustainable. Present worldwide, we are more than 140 accredited laboratories and a team of over 10,000 committed employees. We strongly believe that together, we can create solutions to offer our planet: BETTER FOOD. BETTER HEALTH. BETTER WORLD. www.merieuxnutrisciences.com

About Peugeot Invest: Peugeot Invest is an investment company that pursues a long-term value creation strategy based on active portfolio management and governance involvement. It focuses its investments on four key sectors: healthcare, technology, financial services, and business services, applying a selective, conviction-driven approach. It builds and manages a diversified portfolio of minority holdings in listed and unlisted companies, as well as private equity funds, primarily in Europe and North America, with Stellantis among its historical assets. Listed on Euronext, it is majority-owned by Établissements Peugeot Frères. https://peugeot-invest.com/

About Conti: Conti is a privately owned global investor, owner, and operator of companies with more than 200 years of history across the food and agribusiness spectrum. It creates long–term value by applying deep industry knowledge, capital and talent to businesses ranging from established market leaders to promising innovators, working alongside trusted partners, and supporting strong management teams. It brings a long–term ownership mindset, concentrating on investment and operating plans that create enduring value and a sustainable, efficient, and nutritional food supply chain. Continental Grain brings people, ideas, and resources together to build the businesses that will feed the world.https://continentalgrain.com/

*Source: Mérieux NutriSciences’ estimates based on market studies. Reflects outsourced food TIC sector only.

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SOURCE Mérieux NutriSciences