09.21.12
Nutrition Capital Network (NCN) has released its list of Top 15 M&A and Financing Transactions for the first six months on 2012. These include Pfizer’s $360-million acquisition of Alacer in supplements, DSM’s $540-million purchase of Ocean Nutrition in ingredients, the merger of Sprouts and Sunflower natural food retail chains, and Campbell’s Soup $1.6-billion acquisition of Bolthouse Farms. “In aggregate these deals illustrate a few notable trends,” says Grant Ferrier, an NCN principal and co-founder. “First, the M&As are getting bigger; second, more and more players are coming to the table each quarter like P&G and Dole; and third, natural/organic and healthy foods are increasingly a competitive battleground for the world’s largest food companies. In addition, we are seeing an increased interest over time in companies across the supply chain, including ingredient and manufacturing companies, indicating that investors are becoming more strategic in their approach to the industry.”