LONDON – LGC, an international life sciences measurement and testing company, announced the completion of its acquisition of BRC Global Standards, a global provider of safety and quality standards programs for food and non-food manufacturers, including packaging, storage, distribution and retail segments.

BRC Global Standards' strategy is to become a brand and consumer protection organization. The transaction is expected to fuel international growth for BRC Global Standards over the next five years by adding to BRC’s existing presence in the United Kingdom, India and the United States; enable investigation of wider consumer and brand protection solutions including health and safety, predictive analytics and ethical trading; and underpin planned investment in IT development to enable real time business intelligence for supply chains.

“We are delighted to be adding BRC Global Standards to our Standards division,” Euan O’Sullivan, managing director of LGC’s Standards Division, said in a statement. “BRC Global Standards is a globally recognized and respected brand and its capabilities are highly complementary to LGC’s existing strengths across reference standards, proficiency testing and sports supplements supply chain assurance. We look forward to working with BRC Global Standards’ management to continue internationalizing the business while developing new and innovative solutions to meet our customers’ needs.”

BRC Global Standards has historically been developed as a division of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the UK's leading retail trade association. BRC will remain a minority shareholder in the business and will have a seat on BRC Global Standards’ board to ensure continuity and stability for customers and specifiers. BRC programs are used by more than 24,000 certificated suppliers in 130 countries. Certifications are issued through a global network of accredited certification bodies.

“We are delighted to have LGC as the new owner of our business since it has an international presence to support our growth plans and a customer base who will benefit from our services,” Mark Proctor, CEO of BRC Global Standards, said in a statement. “This investment will also enable us to save more lives by expanding our product offering and cementing our position as a recognized global leader in consumer and brand protection solutions.”