Novozymes and Chr. Hansen have a new name. And it ended up being Novonesis, which signifies a new beginning.

Ester Baiget, currently CEO of Novozymes, will become chief exec of the combined company once the merger is fully approved, which is expected to happen very soon - during the first quarter of 2024, she says.

It has been a long process to come up with a new name that will embrace employees from both companies.

”Novozymes is a good name - but we are much more than that. A name with zymes is related to enzymes, and that would limit us in what we are. We are much more than enzymes - we are biological solutions. So now we’ve moved to a new place - a better place,” Baiget told MarketWire shortly after the name was announced Wednesday morning.

The name is the first step in creating ”a platform for an extraordinary company,” the CEO points out.

A year of work so far

Novozymes acquired Chr. Hansen on Dec. 12 last year. Since then, work has been done on many fronts to make the merger a success.

”We have now been at it for one year and one day. In one year, we have managed to get very close to a final merger. But the biggest achievement is that we have continued to deliver throughout the process,” says Baiget, adding:

”I’ve been able to see the end of the merger since day one.”

The CEO of Novozymes calls Wednesday, Dec. 13, a great day - also because a climate agreement was reached at COP28.

The agreement is considered by many to be groundbreaking despite the fact it does not say that fossil fuels must be phased out, which several countries and also the EU had as a declared goal prior to negotiations. Instead, a text has been included stating that a transition away from fossil fuels must be made to ensure net-zero emissions by 2050.

And that is an important passage, according to Baiget.

On Tuesday, the merger received conditional approval from the European Commission. The deal entails the sale of Chr. Hansen’s lactase distribution business and Novozymes’ lactase production facility.

This sale also took place on Tuesday, when Irish Kerry was ready with DKK 1.1bn (EUR 148m) for the part of the business that contributes 1% of total revenue at the two companies combined.

”The EU has given conditional approval. This is a huge milestone we have passed. And now we need South Korea, with whom we are in good dialog,” says the future head of Novonesis.