Record 90 acquisitions in October

An all time record 90 food and drink industry transactions were registered on the Zenith Global mergers and acquisitions database in October, beating the previous peak of 80 in August 2018.

This follows a distinct slowdown in the spring of 2020 and reflects an acceleration in coronavirus-related restructuring. 23 of the 90 were funding rounds.

6 of the deals involved sums in excess of $500 million, including 1 above $5,000 million:

• $7,600 million in soft drinks for UK-based Coca-Cola European Partners to buy Australia-based Coca-Cola Amatil
• $950 million in food delivery for Switzerland’s Nestlé to acquire Freshly in the United States
• €500 million in revenue for China’s Investindustrial private equity by adding CSM Bakery Solutions’ US-based ingredients business
• $575 million for Kainos private equity to take on Tivity Health’s nutrition activities in the United States
• $550 million in bakery for B&G Foods to gain Crisco from JM Smucker in the United States
• $547 million for France’s Danone to divest its final 6.61% stake in Japan’s Yakult.

Of the 90 total, 13 were in soft drinks, 12 in alcohol, 7 in bakery, 7 in ingredients, 6 in dairy, 5 in food delivery, 5 in meat-free, 5 in snacks, 4 in nutrition and 4 in packaging.

40 were within individual countries, with 21 in the United States, 5 in Canada, 4 in France and 4 in the United Kingdom.

50 were international, spanning 25 countries.

Across the 90, the United States featured in 41, the United Kingdom in 18, Canada in 10, France in 9, Germany in 5, Netherlands in 5 and China in 4.