Koninklijke DSM

Koninklijke DSM N.V., a science-based company, engages in nutrition, health, and sustainable living businesses in the Netherlands, Switzerland, rest of Europe, North America, Latin America, China, rest of Asia, and internationally. It operates through Nutrition, Materials, and Innovation Center segments. The Nutrition segment offers animal nutrition and health products, including vitamins, premixes, carotenoids, enzymes, microbes, and eubiotics; human nutrition and health products comprising vitamins, nutritional lipids, minerals, carotenoids, nutraceuticals, digestive enzymes, probiotics, and prebiotics, as well as active pharmaceutical ingredients; premix, market-ready solutions, and personalized nutrition; human milk oligosaccharides; and skin and sun care, hair care, and aroma ingredients; omega-3 fatty acids; and specialty food enzymes, cultures, bio-preservation, texturizing hydrocolloids, sugar reduction, and savory taste solutions. The Materials segment provides specialty plastics used in components for the electrical and electronics, automotive, flexible food-packaging, and consumer goods industries; and Dyneema, a fiber solution for use in personal protection, workwear, sports apparel, outdoor equipment, ropes and slings, synthetic chains, and nets for the aquaculture, and renewable energy sectors. The Innovation Center segment offers biomedical materials, and medical device and material manufacturing technologies in the areas of cardiovascular, continence care, dental, diabetes management, gynecology, neurology, ophthalmology, orthopedic, peripheral vascular, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and wound management. It also commercializes yeast technology yeast for ethanol production. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Heerlen, the Netherlands.

DSM was formed by the Dutch state in 1902 to mine coal reserves in southern Limburg and although the company had diversified into commodity chemicals and petrochemicals by 1973 when the last mine closed, DSM retains a link to its origins by continuing to use the initials, originally an abbreviation for Dutch State Mines, to this day.During World War II researchers worked on penicillin. The code name Bacinol was used to keep the research secret from the Germans. The research was done at the company Nederlandsche Gist- en Spiritusfabriek, Dutch Yeast and Spirits Factory, later becoming DSM Sinochem Pharmaceuticals, in Delft.

In 1989 the government floated 70% of its shares in the company on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange with the remaining 30% floated in 1996, thereby completing DSM's privatization. The 21st century has seen DSM follow successive five-year strategic periods of portfolio transformation and internationalization involving acquisitions, divestments and partnerships. In 2001 48% of DSM's workforce was based in the Netherlands; in 2017 this was 18%.

2017: Patheon, a pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization joint venture with JLL Partners, to Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

DSM has stated that these partnerships have been created with a view to the company's ultimate exit from the businesses concerned.

2009: DSM and NCPC sign contracts to establish nutrition and anti-infectives joint ventures in China

2011: DSM Sinochem Pharmaceuticals, joint venture with the Sinochem Group. DSM Sinochem Pharmaceuticals is a manufacturer of generic anti-infective molecules.

2015: ChemicaInvest, joint venture with CVC Capital Partners. ChemicaInvest consists of three business units; Aliancys , AnQore and Fibrant .DSM has applied IFRS 11 to its associates and joint ventures since 2013.

The mission of DSM's Nutrition Improvement Program business is to positively impact public health by developing and implementing effective nutrition solutions and leveraging our expertise and partnerships to reach and serve the 4 billion people at the base of the pyramid.