KANSAS CITY, Mo. — M&A activity in the pet nutrition industry has slowed, but consumers’ love for their pets continues to make it an attractive sector, as evidenced by the 28 mergers and acquisitions announced across the industry. From manufacturers to equipment and ingredient suppliers to retailers, companies are looking to take advantage of the significant opportunities the pet food industry offers.
Read on for an overview of mergers and acquisitions in the pet nutrition industry from January to June 2024.
Maker
Swedish Care subsidiary Pet MD Brands started the year with a bang by acquiring Riley’s, a company that specializes in premium dog treats and nutritional supplements, for $7.5 million. The acquisition gives Swedish Care entry into the organic pet treat market in North America.
Belgium-based United Petfood signed a share purchase agreement on January 16 to acquire Vital Petfood Group (VPG), a Danish pet food manufacturer specializing in dry and semi-moist pet foods. The acquisition also includes plants in Northern Europe, supporting United Petfood’s growth strategy targeting the Nordic region.
On January 19, Target Petcare (TPC) announced the acquisition of pet treat business Pet Brands. The acquisition expands TPC’s pet treat portfolio and increases its sourcing, design and packaging capabilities. Pet Brands specializes in private label and branded dog and cat treats in a variety of natural food categories, including jerky, soft chews, dental chews, purees and premium bone treats.
To further strengthen its position in the Nordic pet nutrition market, VAFO Group acquired Dagsmark Petfood, a Finnish manufacturer of wet food products for dogs and cats, at the end of January. According to VAFO Group, the acquisition of Dagsmark Petfood will strengthen its current product portfolio in the Finnish pet food market and expand its wet pet food production capacity.
Later in May, VAFO acquired Allco Tiernahrung, a German family-owned manufacturer of high-quality pet food. According to VAFO, the acquisition is in line with the company’s goal of steadily growing market share. Allco’s products will build on this as the company aims to reposition its values into a more unified image, target German pet owners and offer more pet nutrition solutions. Allco will become a subsidiary of VAFO and operate under the new name, VAFO.de.
Petfood Company GmbH has been acquired by German meat distributor Westfleisch, strengthening its partnerships with meat suppliers. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Westfleisch’s existing pet food product lines and expand its value chain. With the completion of the acquisition, Westfleisch now operates 10 facilities throughout northwest Germany.
Following a partnership to develop supplements for pets suffering from obesity and related health issues, Better Choice Company announced the acquisition of Aimia Pet Healthco Inc. on Feb. 9. Through the acquisition, Better Choice will manage in-house the clinical trials related to the development and testing of supplements.
On April 9, Finnish direct-to-consumer pet food brand Alvar Pet acquired online retail platform Verkkokauppa Kivuton (Kivuton). According to the company, the acquisition of Kivuton will allow Alvar Pet to establish “the largest online store dedicated to pet health in the Nordics,” expanding its mission to offer pet owners a wide range of veterinarian-developed pet supplies and nutritional products.
German premium pet food manufacturer The Nutriment Company and Scottish raw dog food manufacturer Totally Natural Pet Products (TNPP) have signed a binding agreement under which The Nutriment Company will acquire TNPP for an undisclosed amount. According to The Nutriment Company, the acquisition marks a strategic expansion of its premium natural pet food portfolio. The transaction is also expected to strengthen the brand’s presence in Central Europe.
General Mills acquired Kortrijk, Belgium-based premium pet food brand Edgard & Cooper at the end of April as part of its Accelerate strategy. General Mills said Edgard & Cooper is expected to continue to grow across the 13 European markets it operates in. Under General Mills’ ownership, the business will continue to be led by Edgard & Cooper founders Cohen Bostone, Louis Chalabi and Jurgen Degrande and will operate as a standalone division with financial results reported under General Mills’ international division.
Buck Bone Organics, a maker of natural chews and treats, has been acquired by private equity firm Borgman Capital, marking the firm’s first investment in the pet industry. Buck Bone founders Jackie, Mark and Shane Steigleman will partner with Borgman Capital associates to drive the company’s next phase of growth.
British pet food manufacturer Pets Choice Ltd. has agreed to acquire Vet’s Kitchen from parent company Pets’ Kitchen, effective June 1. Pets Choice will integrate Vet’s Kitchen’s dry dog food and dry cat food brands, including Webbox, Bob Martin, Felight, TastyBone and B-Calm, into its portfolio, which is expected to strengthen Pet Choice’s presence in the premium and advanced nutrition sector of the UK pet food market.
On June 24, Petbuddy Group (PBG), a consortium of European premium pet food brands, announced the acquisition of Thrive Pet Foods. PBG plans to use its distribution network in the UK and Scandinavia to bring Thrive’s products to new markets. The company will leverage synergies in sales, distribution and production capabilities to ensure Thrive’s market penetration and sustained growth.
Partner in Pet Food (PPF), a European pet food co-manufacturer, announced that private equity firm CVC Capital Partners IX has acquired a majority stake in the company. PPF said the move is aimed at accelerating the company’s business and expanding in the European market. CVC purchased the majority stake from Cinven, an existing investor in PPF, which will continue to hold a minority stake in the company.
supplier
Earlier this year, ADM announced plans to acquire PT Trouw Nutrition Indonesia, a leading provider of functional and nutritional solutions to the livestock industry in Indonesia and a subsidiary of Nutreco. The acquisition includes two premix facilities and will strengthen ADM’s premix and feed additives and ingredients (FA&I) businesses.
After several months of continuing acquisition bids, JBT Corp. made a final and increased offer to acquire Marel on Jan. 19. JBT planned to launch a voluntary acquisition bid during the first quarter of 2024 to acquire all of Marel’s shares and combine the two companies into JBT Marel Corp. The transaction is still in progress, and JBT expects to close later this year.
Darling Ingredients completed the acquisition of Polish rendering company Milopas Group in late January for approximately $118.1 million. The deal, first announced in November 2022, expands Darling’s ingredients offering to include fats and other by-products used in animal feed and pet food.
Following an announcement in December 2022, Novozymes and Christian Hansen completed their merger, creating Novonesys. With the merger, the companies have created an organization with 10,000 employees, a global network of R&D and application centers and activities in 30 industries. Novozymes provides enzyme and microbial technologies and Christian Hansen provides competencies in ingredient systems for the food, pet food, nutrition, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries.
Robot manufacturer ATLINE ApS was acquired by international technology group Indutrade in February. ATLINE specializes in automating and enhancing quality assurance processes in manufacturing. The company said it has annual sales of approximately $5.76 million.
On February 7, BiOriginal Food & Science announced the acquisition of POS (Protein, Oil, Starch) Biosciences, Inc. The acquisition gives BiOriginal access to POS’s oil processing, concentration and distillation infrastructure, as well as research and development services, enabling it to produce value-added ingredients for the human and pet nutrition markets.
In February, ProMach completed the acquisition of Zanichelli Meccanica SpA, better known as Zacmi, an Italian manufacturer of filling, seaming and pasteurization systems. The transaction expands ProMach’s portfolio and strengthens the company’s position in the packaging equipment market, particularly in the areas of filling and pasteurization solutions for food and pet food manufacturers. Zacmi and its team have been integrated into ProMach’s Primary Packaging business.
At the end of February, Duravant LLC acquired Ferdinand Henneken GmbH (Henneken), a leading manufacturer of protein processing solutions. Henneken’s products and services, including vacuum tumblers, tenderizers, injectors and brine mixers for meat, poultry and seafood processors, complement Duravant’s capabilities to provide a full line of integrated equipment solutions.
Flexible packaging supplier ProAmpac has strengthened its capabilities in recycled kraft paper solutions with the acquisition of UP Paper. ProAmpac said the acquisition of UP Paper will enable it to create more environmentally friendly flexible packaging solutions. The combined companies will leverage each other’s capabilities to provide flexible fiber- and film-based solutions to a range of industries.
On May 2, ingredient supplier Blue Sky Nutrition LLC acquired the food and feed division of Maltwerks, a distributor of premium grain ingredients to manufacturers in the food and animal feed industries. The acquisition, which closed in mid-April, allows Blue Sky Nutrition to strengthen its offerings for the pet food, feed, food and supplement markets.
Mexico’s Dresen Quimica SAPI De CV (CFS Mexico), a wholly owned subsidiary of Camlin Fine Sciences Limited (CFS), signed a share purchase agreement to acquire Vitafor on June 11. According to the company, Vitafor’s feed ingredients, nutritional products, hygiene products and disinfectants will expand CFS’ portfolio across various animal segments and strengthen the company’s expertise in the animal nutrition business to include further shelf life extension, feed safety and animal performance solutions.
Packaging supplier Sonoco Products Inc. acquired Ebiosis Corp. on June 24 for approximately $3.9 billion. Sonoco said the acquisition of Ebiosis accelerates its strategy to expand its core metal packaging business. Sonoco plans to incorporate Ebiosis’ metal packaging capabilities into its metal can business, becoming one of the world’s leading manufacturers of metal food cans and aerosol packaging.
Retailer/Program
In January, Woolworths Holdings Limited announced plans to acquire substantially all of the shares (93.45%) of South African pet care retailer Absolute Pets Limited from its management team and former owner Sanlam Private Equity. Woolworths said the acquisition of Absolute Pets would provide it with a strong complementary market presence and strong management team.
In January, Where Food Comes From, Inc. (WFCF), which owns and operates third-party verification services, acquired the Upcycled Certified program from the Upcycled Food Association (UFA). With this acquisition, WFCF plans to further advance the Upcycled Certified program, helping it meet growing consumer demand for products that contain upcycled food ingredients.
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