Primient
Americas
Schaumburg
,
United States
Established
FOUNDED
2022
HEADCOUNT
1001-5000
FUNDING
Growth / PE-backed
Keywords:
fermentation, organic_acids, sweeteners, biofuels, commodity_chemicals, CDMO, animal_nutrition
BUSINESS
Primient was launched in April 2022 when private equity firm KPS Capital Partners acquired a controlling interest in the North American/Latin American primary corn wet milling and bulk sweetener business from Tate & Lyle; KPS subsequently acquired Tate & Lyle's remaining 49.7% stake for $350 million in a transaction completed in late June 2024, making Primient wholly owned by KPS. The company produces food and industrial ingredients including high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, glucose syrups, maltodextrins, modified and industrial starches, citric acid, fumaric acid, malic acid, ethanol, animal feed, and corn oil. Operations include four wet mills (Decatur, IL; Lafayette, IN; Loudon, TN; Lafayette South, IN) and a Brazilian operations office, with approximately 1,800 employees.
BIOTECH INVOLVEMENT
Citric acid, fumaric acid, malic acid, and fuel ethanol are produced via microbial fermentation of corn-derived sugars, with citric acid the most commercially important fermentation product. Two recent moves elevate the biotech profile: the iPROOF project at Decatur, funded through the US EDA Tech Hubs program, will recommission existing fermentation equipment as a demo-scale facility for biotech entrepreneurs, and an October 2024 co-location partnership with Sustainea (a Braskem/Sojitz JV) will supply corn dextrose to a planned $400 million Bio-MEG plant in Lafayette, Indiana
TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
fermentation; biomanufacturing
PRIMARY PRODUCTS
Plant-based starches; sweeteners; bio-based polymers (e.g. Zemea, Susterra)