Avantor Inc

At Avantor, everything we do is tied to our unique mission of setting science in motion to create a better world.

We are a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. Our business model is grounded in supporting our customers from discovery to delivery and Avantor is embedded in virtually every stage of the most important research, scale-up and manufacturing activities in the industries we serve.

Our comprehensive offering provides scientists all they need to conduct their research: materials & consumables, equipment & instrumentation and services & specialty procurement. Our customer-centric innovation model enables us to provide solutions for some of the most demanding applications, and we leverage our comprehensive offering and access to early-stage research to identify and develop content and solutions that ultimately become specified into our customers’ approved production platforms. Our broad portfolio of products and services, fully integrated business model and global supply chain enable us to support our customers’ journey every step of the way.

We have a number of distinctive capabilities that set us apart from other companies in our space. For example, our global footprint offers extraordinary customer access, enabling us to serve more than 300,000 customer locations in more than 180 countries around the world.

Our legacy began in 1904 with the founding of the J.T. Baker Chemical Company. In 2010, we were acquired by New Mountain Capital from Covidien plc. Since then, we have expanded through a series of large acquisitions which have extended our global reach. In 2016, we merged with NuSil, a leading supplier of high-purity silicone products for the medical device and aerospace industries that was founded in 1985. In 2017, we acquired VWR, a global manufacturer and distributor of laboratory and production products and services founded in 1852.

Avantor, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in May 2017 in anticipation of the VWR acquisition. We completed our initial public offering through Avantor, Inc. and listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2019.

In June 2021, we acquired Ritter, a manufacturer of high-quality robotic and liquid handling consumables used in a variety of molecular screening and diagnostic applications. In November 2021, we acquired the Masterflex bioprocessing business of Antylia Scientific. Masterflex is a leading global manufacturer of peristaltic pumps and aseptic single-use fluid transfer technologies.

Business segments

We have reported financial results in three geographic segments based on customer location: the Americas, Europe and AMEA. The following chart presents the approximate mix of net sales for each of those segments during 2023:

Within each of our geographic segments, we sell materials & consumables, equipment & instrumentation and services & specialty procurement to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. We work with customers across these sophisticated, science-driven industries that require innovation and adherence to the most demanding technical and regulatory requirements. The following charts present the approximate mix of net sales for each of these groups during 2023:

On December 7, 2023, we disclosed that the company will transition from three geographic segments to two complementary business segments focused on customer needs: Laboratory Solutions and Bioscience Production, effective January 1, 2024.

Products and services

Our portfolio includes a comprehensive range of products and services that allows us to create customized and integrated solutions for our customers. These products and services enable our customers to achieve precise analytical results in their research, diagnostic, and quality assurance and quality control activities. More than 85% of our net sales were from product and service offerings that we consider to be recurring in nature. Our products and services are as follows:

•Materials & consumables include ultra-high purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, highly specialized formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, customized single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits and education and microbiology and clinical trial kits, peristaltic pumps and fluid handling tips. Some of these are proprietary products that we make while others are produced by third parties;

•Equipment & instrumentation include filtration systems, virus inactivation systems, incubators, analytical instruments, evaporators, ultra-low-temperature freezers, biological safety cabinets and critical environment supplies; and

•Services & specialty procurement include onsite lab and production, clinical, equipment, procurement and sourcing and biopharmaceutical material scale-up and development services.

In aggregate, we provide millions of SKUs, including high value specialty products developed to exacting purity and performance specifications. Our proprietary brands have been specified and trusted for decades. Our e-commerce platform, Avantor ScienceCentral, makes it easy for customers to do business with us and enables digital marketing efforts that position us to capture new demand. All of our capabilities are underpinned by our Avantor Business System which drives execution and continuous improvement. We manufacture products that meet or exceed the demanding requirements of our customers across a number of highly-regulated industries. Our high-purity and ultra-high purity products, such as our J.T.Baker brand chemicals, are trusted by life sciences and electronic materials customers around the world and can be manufactured at purity levels as stringent as one part-per-trillion. Similarly, our NuSil brand of high-purity, customized silicones has been trusted for more than 30 years by leading medical device manufacturers and aerospace companies.

Our services organization of over 2,500 colleagues work side-by-side with our customers to support their workflows. Our traditional service offerings focus on the needs of laboratory scientists and include procurement, logistics, chemical and equipment tracking and glassware autoclaving. In addition, we offer more complex and value-added scientific research support services such as DNA extraction, bioreactor servicing, clinical and biorepository services and compound management.

Customers

We benefit from longstanding customer relationships, and approximately 40% of our 2023 net sales came from customers that have had relationships with us for 15 years or more. We also have a diverse customer base with no single end customer comprising more than 5% of net sales.

Suppliers

We sell proprietary products we make and third-party products sourced from a wide variety of product suppliers located across the globe. Our supplier relationships are based on contracts that vary in geographic scope, duration, product and service type, and some include exclusivity provisions. Those relationships may include distribution, sales and marketing support as well as servicing of instruments and equipment. Many of our supplier relationships have been in place for more than twenty years.

Sales channels

We reach our customers throughout the Americas, Europe and AMEA via a well-trained global sales force, comprehensive websites and targeted catalogs. Our sales force is comprised of approximately 3,700 sales and sales support professionals, including over 200 sales specialists selected for their in-depth industry and product knowledge. Our sales professionals include native speakers for each of the countries in which we operate, allowing us to have high impact interactions with our customers across the globe.

Our e-commerce platform, Avantor ScienceCentral, plays a vital role in how we conduct business with our customers. In 2023, approximately 75% of our transactions came from our digital channels. Our websites utilize search analytics and feature personalized search tools, customer specific web solutions and enhanced data that optimize our customers’ online purchasing experience with rich content and AI-based recommendations and better integrate our customers’ processes with our own. Our websites are designed to integrate acquisitions, drive geographical expansion and serve segmented market needs with ease. In addition, we have introduced digital services and solutions that streamline lab procurement and operations and have become embedded into many customers’ laboratories, such as Avantor’s Inventory Manager.

Infrastructure

We have more than 200 facilities strategically located throughout the globe that include manufacturing, distribution, service, research & technology and sales centers.

We operate over 45 global manufacturing facilities, including 19 facilities that are cGMP compliant and have been registered with the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Our facilities are strategically located in North America, Europe and the AMEA region to facilitate supply chain efficiency and proximity to customers. Our manufacturing capabilities include: (i) an ability to quickly change specifications depending on customer needs; (ii) our flexible unit operations, which allow for production scalability, from laboratory pre-clinical development to large-volume commercialization; (iii) proprietary purification technologies designed to ensure lot-to-lot consistency through ultra-low impurity levels; (iv) rigorous analytical quality control testing; and (v) robust regulatory and quality control procedures. Our global network of distribution centers gives our customers security of supply and real-time flexibility. We also have 13 innovation centers that enable extensive collaboration and customization, critical elements for serving highly regulated, specification-driven applications.

Information technology

We have a highly automated suite of ERP systems that promote standardization and provide business insight. Our global web infrastructure provides seamless integration with our customers and suppliers. These ERP platforms support rapid development and deployment of enhancements so that we may quickly adapt to meet the technology needs of our customers and seamlessly integrate new acquisitions. We have made significant investments to implement common ERP and online platforms that enhance the customer experience and employ network and data security architecture.

Competition

We operate in a highly competitive environment with a diverse and fragmented base of competitors, many of whom focus on specific regions, customers, and/or segments. We focus on service and delivery, breadth of product line, customization capabilities, price, customer support, online capabilities and the ability to meet the special and local needs of our customers.

Competition is driven not only by the product quality and purity across industries we serve, but also by the adaptability of the supplier as a developmental and commercial partner. We rely on our scale, expertise, deep customer access, depth of product and value-added service offerings, marketing strategies and sales force, acquisition strategy, financial profile and management team to deliver superior solutions to our customers and provide extensive market channel access to our suppliers.

Sustainability

Our Science for Goodness sustainability platform enhances our framework for creating long-term value by embedding sound environmental, social and governance practices into our business strategy. The platform also enables us to continually measure and report progress against four key commitment pillars, which are aligned with several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Our sustainability is reflected in our people, the products we create, the transformative services we provide, and the integrity with which we serve our shareholders, business partners, suppliers, customers, and communities. Our efforts to build a more sustainable future include programs to monitor, measure, and set strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address our waste and water footprint. As part of our commitment to accelerate sustainable practices across the supply chain, in June 2023, we launched Avantor’s Responsible Supplier Program, which was piloted with a small cohort of supplier partners in 2022. The program focuses on six priorities: climate change, deforestation, human rights, responsible packaging, waste, and water. These priorities were selected based on their relevance to Avantor and to suppliers' businesses, enabling collaboration with supplier partners to identify sustainability challenges and solutions. In late 2023, we announced new 2030 science-based climate targets with a goal to achieve by 2030 a 50% absolute reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions and a 25% absolute reduction in scope 3 emissions from a 2020 baseline.

We have consistently improved our sustainability scores, and in 2023 we received a Bronze Medal from EcoVadis rating agency. In addition, Avantor was recognized as an Equality 100 Award: Leader in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion honoree by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index.

Employees and human capital resources

Our success depends on our ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified and diverse talent. As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 14,500 employees located in over 30 different countries in a variety of roles. Approximately 5,900 of our associates were employed in the U.S. We believe that our relations with our employees are good. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 5% of our employees in North America were represented by unions, and a majority of our employees in Europe were represented by workers’ councils or unions. We compete in the highly competitive life sciences industry. Attracting, developing and retaining talented people in technical, marketing, sales, research and other positions is crucial to executing our strategy and our ability to compete effectively. Our ability to recruit and retain such talent depends on a number of factors, including a positive and inclusive work environment and culture, compensation and benefits, talent development and career growth and opportunities, and protecting the health, safety and well-being of our associates. To that end, we invest in our associates in order to be an employer of choice. Our associates reflect the communities in which we live and work, the customers we serve, and possess a broad range of thought and experiences that have helped Avantor achieve our goal of setting science in motion to create a better world.

People & culture

Enhancing our Associate Experience is a strategic priority for Avantor. Our values give our associates a foundation for how we want to work together. Innovation, Customer-centricity, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence are the building blocks of our company culture and send a strong message to our associates, customers, suppliers, stockholders and communities: ICARE. In addition, our executive leaders serve as sponsors of our Associate-Centric Teams (ACTs) in supportofour diversity and inclusion initiatives. ACTs are employee resource groups that foster an inclusive work environment, build connections, create community, and promote career opportunities. Based on common interests, backgrounds or characteristics, ACTs are open to all associates and serve as a support system to promote awareness, respect, and inclusion in the workplace. Additionally, Avantor’s Talent Philosophy is a part of commitment to our associates and guides our managers in their role in supporting our people and our culture.

Compensation and benefits

We are committed to rewarding, supporting and developing the associates who make it possible to deliver on our strategy. To that end, we offer a comprehensive total rewards program aimed at the varying health, home-life and financial needs of our diverse and global associates. Our total rewards package includes market-competitive pay, broad-based stock grants and bonuses, healthcare benefits, retirement savings plans, an employee stock purchase plan, paid time off and family leave, flexible work schedules, access to wellness programs, free physicals and flu vaccinations, and an Employee Assistance Program and other mental health services.

Growth and development

We invest significant resources to develop talent with the right capabilities to deliver the growth and innovation needed to support our strategy. We offer associates and their managers numerous tools to help in their personal and professional development, including our Avantor Career Hub which enables associates to highlight their skills, capture development plans, make connections and find new opportunities inside Avantor. We have a robust portfolio of learning solutions that can be accessed in multiple formats and available to our global associates across various professional, personal and leadership development areas. Each year, we host a Learning & Career week program which is available to associates at all levels globally, and includes a diverse slate of learning opportunities, live sessions and on-demand resources designed to support the personal and professional growth and success of associates. In 2023, we hosted our first Avantor Leadership Experience for individuals at the Director, Vice President and Senior Vice President level. In addition, we provide programs on the Avantor Business System, which drives excellence in people, processes and problem solving. These consistent lean leadership practices empower associates to continuously improve and add value to our operations and customer solutions. We have aligned our performance management system through which 100% of our associates receive annual performance reviews, to support our culture of feedback to increase the focus on continuous learning and development. Our Career Accelerator programs are focused on providing management skills training to high-performing individual contributors and early career associates in underrepresented ethnicities.

Health, safety and well-being

We are committed to protecting the health, safety and well-being of our associates. Our approach involves environment, health and safety professionals and process engineers who identify risks and implement behavioral solutions to prevent accidents before they occur. A robust auditing program is in place at every facility to ensure that we measure performance and drive continuous improvement. Our core areas of focus include compliance with regulatory and international requirements, active monitoring of regulatory agencies for changing requirements, partnering with operational leaders to meet Environment, Health & Safety, Security & Sustainability (EHSSS) requirements, and promoting effective communication throughout the organization.

Intellectual property

We rely on intellectual property rights, nondisclosure and other contractual provisions and technical measures to protect our offerings, services and intangible assets. Much of our intellectual property is know-how and asset configurations that we treat as trade secrets. These proprietary rights are important to our ongoing operations. In some instances, we may license our technology to third parties or may elect to license intellectual property from others. We have applied in the United States and certain foreign countries for registration of number of trademarks, service marks and patents, some of which have been registered and issued. We also hold common law rights in various trademarks and service marks. Other than our Avantor, VWR, J.T.Baker, NuSil and Masterflex trademarks, we do not consider any particular patent, trademark, license, franchise or concession to be material to our overall business.

Seasonality

Our business is not seasonal, but some of our proprietary products have exhibited cyclical customer demand in prior periods. We believe that this is caused by factors unique to those particular product markets such as customer manufacturing schedules, inventory levels in the supply chain and government approval processes. As a result, we may see fluctuations across periods as the timing of our customers’ demand for these products may change.

Government contracts

We conduct business with various government agencies and government contractors. As such, we are subject to certain laws and regulations applicable to companies doing business with the government, as well as with those concerning government contracts. Failure to address or comply with these laws and regulations could harm our business by leading to a renegotiation of profits or termination of the contract at the election of the government agency. For a discussion of risks related to government contracting requirements, refer to “Item 1A, Risk Factors.” No government contract is of such a magnitude as to have a material adverse effect on our financial results.

Government regulation

Our facilities that engage in the manufacturing, packaging, distribution and other biopharmaceutical and biomaterials production, as well as many of our products themselves, are subject to extensive ongoing regulation by U.S. governmental authorities, the EMA and other global regulatory authorities. Certain of our subsidiaries are required to register with these agencies, or to apply for permits and/or licenses with, and must comply with the operating, cGMP, quality and security standards of applicable domestic and foreign regulators, including the FDA, the DEA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, DHHS, the equivalent agencies of European Union (EU) member states, and comparable foreign, state and local agencies, as well as various accrediting bodies, each depending upon the type of operation and the locations of storage or sale of the products manufactured or services provided by those subsidiaries in the event of noncompliance.

In order to maintain certain certifications of quality and safety standards for our manufacturing facilities and operations, we must comply with numerous regulatory systems, standards, guidance and other requirements, as appropriate, including, but not limited to, ICH Q7, the guidelines of the International Pharmaceutical Excipients Council, European in vitro diagnostic medical device directives, U.S. Pharmacopeia / National Formulary, as well as the European, British, Japanese, Indian and Chinese Pharmacopeia, the Food Chemicals Codex and controlled substances regulations.

In addition, our operations, and some of the products we offer, are subject to a number of complex and stringent laws and regulations governing the production, handling, transportation and distribution of chemicals, drugs and other similar products. We are subject to various federal, state, local, foreign and transnational laws, regulations and recommendations, both in the U.S. and abroad, relating to safe working conditions, good laboratory and distribution practices, and the safe and proper use, transportation and disposal of hazardous or potentially hazardous substances. In addition, U.S. and international import and export laws and regulations, including those enforced by the U.S. Departments of Commerce, State and Treasury, OFAC and BIS, require us to abide by certain standards relating to the cross-border transit of finished goods, raw materials and supplies and the handling of related information. Our logistics activities must comply with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, and the Federal Aviation Administration and similar foreign agencies. We are also subject to various other laws and regulations concerning the conduct of our foreign operations, including the FCPA and other anti-bribery laws as well as laws pertaining to the accuracy of our internal books and records.

The costs associated with complying with the various applicable federal, state, local, foreign and transnational regulations could be significant, and the failure to comply with such legal requirements could have an adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations and financial condition. See Item 1A, “Risk factors—Risks related to regulation.” We are subject to audits by the FDA and other similar foreign regulatory bodies. To date, we have had no instances of noncompliance that have had a material impact on our operations.

In addition to the regulations described above, as part of our aerospace and military offerings, we are registered with the DDTC as a manufacturer and exporter of goods controlled by ITAR, and we are subject to strict export control and prior approval requirements related to these goods. In connection with our NuSil brand products, we have one ITAR site registration and one ITAR product registration, and we maintain control systems which enable ITAR compliance. With respect to our electronic materials products, we adhere to applicable industry guidelines which set stringent quality criteria for our products, and we are subject to import and export regulations and other restrictions regarding the safe use of these products as well.

We are also subject to various federal, state and international laws and regulations related to privacy and data protection, including the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) as well as the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), which became effective on January 1, 2020 (as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, which took effect on January 1, 2023, the “CPRA”). The interpretation and application of data privacy, cross-border data transfers and data protection laws and regulations are often uncertain and are evolving in the U.S. and internationally, such as in the EU, China and other jurisdictions. We monitor pending and proposed legislation and regulatory initiatives to ascertain their relevance to, and potential impact on, our business and develop strategies to address regulatory trends and developments, including any required changes to our privacy and data protection compliance programs and policies. Globally, we see a growing trend toward data protection laws and regulations increasing in complexity and number, and we anticipate that our obligations will expand commensurately.

Environmental matters

We are subject to various laws and governmental regulations concerning environmental, safety and health matters, including employee safety and health, in the U.S. and other countries. U.S. federal environmental legislation that affects us includes the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and CERCLA. These laws and regulations govern, among other things, air emissions, wastewater discharges, the use, handling and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, soil and groundwater contamination and the general health and safety of our associates and the communities in which we operate. We are also subject to regulation by OSHA concerning employee safety and health matters. The EPA, OSHA, and other federal and foreign or local agencies have the authority to promulgate regulations that may impact our operations.

Under CERCLA, and analogous statutes in local and foreign jurisdictions, current and former owners and operators of contaminated land are strictly liable for the investigation and remediation of the land and for natural resource damages that may result from releases of hazardous substances at or from the property. Liability under CERCLA and analogous laws is strict, unlimited, joint, several, retroactive, may be imposed regardless of fault and may relate to historical activities or contamination not caused by the current owner or operator. It is possible that facilities that we acquire or have acquired may expose us to environmental liabilities associated with historical site conditions that have not yet been discovered.

In addition to the federal environmental laws that govern our operations, various states have been delegated certain authority under the aforementioned federal statutes as well as having authority over these matters under state laws. Many state and local governments have adopted environmental and employee safety and health laws and regulations, some of which are similar to federal requirements.

A number of our operations involve, in varying degrees, the handling, manufacturing, use or sale of substances that are or could be classified as toxic or hazardous materials within the meaning of applicable laws. Consequently, some risk of environmental harm is inherent in our operations and products, as it is with other companies engaged in similar businesses. For additional information about environmental matters, see note 12 to our audited financial statements beginning on page F-1 of this report.

Available information

We file or furnish annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other documents with or to the SEC. The public can obtain any documents that we file with or furnish to the SEC at www.sec.gov.

You may also access our press releases, financial information and reports filed with or furnished to the SEC through our own website at www.avantorsciences.com. Copies of any documents on our website may be obtained free of charge, and reports filed with or furnished to the SEC will be available as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the SEC. The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report filed with or furnished to the SEC.