52 acquisitions in October

Over 50 food and drink industry transactions were recorded on the bevblog.net mergers and acquisitions database for October.

Three were valued at more than $500 million:

• $780 million for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to buy the Canadian wine business of US-based Constellation Brands

• $680 million for Chinese dairy leader Yili to purchase a 37% stake in China Shengmu Organic Milk

• $600 million for Constellation Brands to gain the Obregon brewery in Mexico from Belgium’s Anheuser-Busch InBev.

An unusually high 32 of the 52 total were within national borders, leaving just 20 across borders. 23 countries featured, led by the United States on 27, the United Kingdom on 12, Belgium on 4, France on 4 and Canada on 3.

16 were in alcoholic drinks and 8 in soft drinks, then 6 in dairy, 5 in packaging, 3 in bakery and 3 ingredients.