Executive Summary

Nutritional and drug ingredient manufacturer Royal DSM agrees to acquire a 10 percent stake in North China Pharmaceutical Group Corporation Ltd. and to establish a joint venture to manufacture vitamin C products. The Netherlands-based DSM says March 19 it will have a 30 percent stake in the vitamin C joint venture, plus 51 percent ownership of separate partnerships with the Hebei Province-based Chinese firm to develop active and intermediate pharmaceutical ingredients for anti-infective drugs. DSM's total cash investment will amount to approximately $110 million in the agreements the firms expect to start implementing in the second half of 2009