2 July 2021 – Global animal nutrition sector merger and acquisition (M&A) activity kept its rapid pace in Q2 2021, continuing the trend already witnessed in previous quarters, whereby companies in the industry continue to consolidate and remain optimistic for the overall market context. Q1 2021 and Q4 2020 were busy quarters too. Q2 2021 serves as another confirmation that the worst of the global COVID-19 pandemic is now in the industry’s rear-view mirror.
We have recorded 22 M&A deals in the animal nutrition space in this past quarter, which is more than double the nine deals listed this time last year for Q2 2020.It is worth noting that Q2 2020 was the first full quarter which negatively impacted the amount of M&A activity in the sector, therefore the double number of deals or announced deals year-on-year is not surprising.
Continuing consolidation in the global pet food market is hardly surprising either. Tyson Foods sold its pet treats business to General Mills for $1.2 billion, Brazilian meat packer BRF is also carving itself a sizeable share of the Brazilian pet food market with two acquisitions a week apart in June, and other pet food related deals were reported in New Zealand, France and Costa Rica.
The animal nutrition industry itself was especially busy in April and May, notably with investments in the specialty feed additive space (e.g. FrieslandCampina selling Nutrifeed to Denkavit, Nordic Feed Solutions buying Yara International’s feed acidifier range of products or Eastman Chemical’s acquisition of Spain’s 3F Feed & Food).
International businesses also remained active in growing their specialised global capacities, such as Nutreco’s acquisition of Bigsal in Brazil, Nutreco again, buying Nutrimin in Denmark, Wisium (ADM Animal Nutrition)’s purchase of Golden Farm Production & Commerce Company in Vietnam, and Barentz International’s acquisition of Pestell Nutrition in North America.
As previously stated in earlier reports, the mood continues to improve, and with global vaccination underway and international travelling shaping up, we expect more changes in the animal nutrition sector M&A landscape for the remainder of 2021, in line with trends. The summer months may lead to a slight slowdown in the number of deals in Q3 2021. However, companies may wish to keep up the momentum of the previous months and investigate more deals as prospects are brightening.
