The 28 Most Recent Mergers & Acquisitions in the Pet Food & Treat Industry

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While merger and acquisition activity in the pet food industry has slowed, consumers’ devotion to their pets continues to make the industry attractive, as evidenced by 28 mergers and acquisitions announced in all corners of the industry. From manufacturers to equipment and ingredient suppliers, retailers and more, companies are looking to capitalize on the significant opportunities the pet food industry offers.

Read on for our summary of pet food M&A activity from January through June 2024.

Producers

Starting the year off with a bang, Pet MD Brands, a subsidiary of Swedencare, acquired Riley’s for $7.5 million. Riley’s specializes in premium dog treats and nutritional supplements. The acquisition will give Swedencare a foothold in 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 food. The acquisition includes a facility in the Nordics that will support United Petfood’s Nordic-focused growth strategy.

On January 19, Targeted Petcare (TPC) announced the acquisition of Pet Brands, a pet treat company. The transaction expands TPC’s pet treat portfolio and enhances its sourcing, design and packaging capabilities. Pet Brands specializes in private label and branded dog and cat treats across a variety of natural categories, including jerky, soft chews, dental chews, purees and premium bone treats.

To strengthen its position in the Nordic pet food market, VAFO Group acquired Dagsmark Petfood, a Finnish producer of wet dog and cat food, at the end of January. According to VAFO Group, the addition of Dagsmark Petfood complements the current offering in the Finnish pet food market and expands its capabilities in wet pet food production.

Later in May, VAFO acquired Allco Tiernahrung, a German family-owned manufacturer of premium pet food. According to VAFO, the acquisition is in line with the company’s goal of continuously increasing its market share. The company intends to transform its values ​​into a more unified image and reach German pet owners by offering them more pet nutrition solutions, and Allco’s offering will build on this. Allco will become a subsidiary of VAFO and will operate under a new name: VAFO.de.

Petfood Company GmbH has been acquired by German meat retailer Westfleisch, expanding its partnership with the meat supplier. The acquisition is expected to expand Westfleisch’s existing pet food range and extend its value chain. Following the completion of the acquisition, Westfleisch now operates 10 plants in northwestern Germany.

After partnering to create a supplement for pets suffering from obesity and related health issues, Better Choice Company announced on February 9 that it has acquired Aimia Pet Healthco Inc. With the acquisition, Better Choice will internally manage the clinical trials associated with the development and testing of the supplement.

Alvar Pet, a Finnish direct-to-consumer (DTC) pet food brand, acquired online retail platform Verkkokauppa Kivuton (Kivuton) on April 9. With the acquisition of Kivuton, Alvar Pet will expand its mission of offering pet owners a wide range of veterinarian-developed pet products and nutrition, creating “the largest online pet health store in the Nordics,” according to the company.

German premium pet food manufacturer The Nutriment Company and Scottish raw dog food manufacturer Totally Natural Pet Products (TNPP) have entered into a binding agreement under which The Nutriment Company has acquired TNPP for an undisclosed sum. The Nutriment Company says the acquisition represents a strategic expansion of its premium, natural pet food portfolio. The agreement is also expected to strengthen the brand’s presence in Central Europe.

In late April, General Mills acquired Edgard & Cooper, a pet food brand based in Kortrijk, Belgium, as part of its Accelerate strategy. General Mills said Edgard & Cooper is poised for continued growth in the 13 European markets it serves. Under General Mills’ stewardship, Edgard & Cooper founders Koen Bostoen, Louis Chalabi and Jürgen Degrande will continue to lead the company, which will operate as an independent entity, with financial results listed under General Mills International.

Natural treat and food maker Buck Bone Organics has been acquired by private equity firm Borgman Capital, marking its first investment in the pet industry. Buck Bone founders Jackie, Mark and Shane Steigleman will partner with Borgman Capital to fuel the company’s next phase of growth.

English pet food manufacturer Pets Choice Ltd. has agreed to acquire Vet’s Kitchen from its parent company Pets’ Kitchen, effective from 1 June. Pets Choice will incorporate Vet’s Kitchen’s dry dog ​​and 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 sectors of the UK pet food market.

On June 24, Petbuddy Group (PBG), a European consortium of super-premium pet food brands, announced the acquisition of Thrive Pet Foods. PBG plans to leverage its distribution network in the UK and Nordics to introduce Thrive products to new markets. The company will leverage synergies in its sales, distribution and manufacturing capabilities to ensure market penetration and continued growth for Thrive.

European pet food co-producer Partner in Pet Food (PPF) has 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 its operations as well as expanding into the European market. CVC bought the majority stake from current PPF investor Cinven, which will continue to hold a minority stake in the company.

Suppliers

ADM shared its plans to acquire PT Trouw Nutrition Indonesia, a subsidiary of Nutreco and a leading provider of functional and nutritional solutions for the livestock industry in Indonesia, earlier this year. The acquisition includes two premix plants, strengthening ADM’s premix and feed additives and ingredients (FA&I) business.

After months of ongoing offers, JBT Corp. made a final, increased offer to acquire Marel on Jan. 19. JBT had planned to launch a voluntary takeover offer in the first quarter of 2024 to acquire all of the shares of Marel, combining the companies into JBT Marel Corp. The transaction is still pending, and JBT expects to close this year.

In late January, Darling Ingredients completed the acquisition of Polish rendering company Miropasz Group for approximately $118.1 million. The deal, originally announced in November 2022, expands Darling’s ingredient offering to include fats and other by-products for use in animal feed and pet food.

Following the December 2022 announcement, Novozymes and Chr. Hansen completed their merger to form Novonesis. The merger created an entity with 10,000 employees, a global network of R&D and application centers, and operations across 30 industries. Novozymes provided its enzymes and microbiology technologies, while Chr. Hansen offered its capabilities in ingredient systems for the food, pet food, nutrition, pharmaceutical, and agricultural industries.

Robotics manufacturer ATLINE ApS was acquired by Indutrade, an international technology group, in February. ATLINE specializes in automating and improving quality assurance processes in manufacturing. The company says it has annual sales of about $5.76 million.

On February 7, Bioriginal Food & Science Corp. announced the acquisition of POS (Proteins, Oils and Starches) Biosciences Corp. 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 food markets.

ProMach completed the acquisition of Zanichelli Meccanica SpA, better known as Zacmi, an Italian manufacturer of filling, closing and pasteurization systems in February. The transaction expands ProMach’s portfolio and strengthens its position in the packaging equipment market, particularly in filling and sterilization solutions for food and pet food manufacturers. Zacmi and his team have been absorbed into ProMach’s Primary Packaging business.

In late February, Duravant LLC acquired Ferdinand Henneken GmbH (Henneken), a leading manufacturer of protein processing solutions. Henneken’s products and services, which include vacuum tumblers, softeners, injectors and brine mixers for meat, poultry and seafood processors, complement Duravant’s ability to offer comprehensive and integrated equipment solutions.

Flexible packaging provider ProAmpac has strengthened its capabilities in recycled kraft paper solutions with the acquisition of UP Paper. ProAmpac says the addition of UP Paper gives it the ability to create more environmentally friendly, flexible packaging solutions. The combined companies leverage each other’s capabilities to deliver flexible fiber and film solutions to a variety of industries.

On May 2, ingredient supplier Blue Sky Nutrition LLC acquired the Food & Feed division of Maltwerks, which sells premium grain ingredients to food and feed manufacturers. The acquisition, which closed in mid-April, will allow Blue Sky Nutrition to strengthen its offerings in the pet food, feed, food and supplement markets.

Dresen Quimica SAPI De CV, Mexico (CFS Mexico), a wholly owned subsidiary of Camlin Fine Sciences Limited (CFS), entered into a stock purchase agreement on June 11 to acquire Vitafor. Vitafor’s feed ingredients, nutritional products, hygiene products and disinfectants will expand CFS’s portfolio across animal products segments and strengthen the company’s animal nutrition expertise with more solutions for shelf life extension, feed safety and animal performance, according to a company statement.

Packaging supplier Sonoco Products Company acquired Eviosys on June 24 for approximately $3.9 billion. Sonoco said the acquisition of Eviosys accelerates its strategy to scale its core metal packaging business. The company plans to integrate Eviosys’ metal packaging capabilities into its metal can business, becoming a leading global producer of metal food cans and aerosol containers, according to the company.

Retailers/Programs

Woolworths Holdings Limited announced plans to acquire substantially all (93.45%) of the shares in Absolute Pets Ltd, a South African pet care retailer, from the company’s management and former owner Sanlam Private Equity in January. Woolworths said the acquisition of Absolute Pets provides it with a well-established, complementary market presence and strong management.

In January, Where Food Comes From, Inc. (WFCF), a company that owns and operates third-party verification services, acquired the Upcycled Certified program from the Upcycled Food Association (UFA). The acquisition will enable WFCF to meet growing consumer demand for products containing recycled food ingredients as the company plans to further expand the Upcycled Certified program.

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