Mergers and acquisitions round-up 2006
some of the mergers and acquisitions that have shaped the landscape
over the last 12 months.
The biggest news in value terms came this week, when Nestle announced the acquisition, subject to regulatory approval, of Novartis Medical Nutrition for US$2.5bn - a move that propels it from a minor player in healthcare nutrition to the world number two.
Significant activity has taken place in the omega-3 market, with a spate of acquisitions, alliances and new introductions. Cognis acquired Napro Pharma in July for an undisclosed sum, and introduced OmeVital to the market in October.
In March Norwegian omega-3 producer Epax announced its de-mergered from parent company Pronova Biocare, after experiencing 25 per cent growth for 2005.
Spain's Puleva Biotech signed an agreement with US-based The Wright Group for its Eupoly fish oils to be used in a new line of microencapsulated powders; and Borregaard-owned Denomega Nutritional Oils has secured its fish oil supply with a long-term agreement with sea food company Fjordlaks.
Fast-growing Israeli company Frutarom snapped up Acatris Health in October for €10.5m cash, a move expected to bolster its R&D and human resources, and create new cross-selling opportunities.
Also in the autumn Frutarom signed an agreement with D-Herb that gives it exclusive global license to a plant extract to reduce and stabilise glucose levels in diabetes and pre-diabetes sufferers; and its Swiss division (Flaschmann) introduced pink rock rose extract to the market.
In October DSM announced its acquisition of Swedish ingredients firm Lipid Technologies Provider (LTP) for €18m - a culmination of its initial investment three years ago that will let it leverage LTP's technology for new ingredients in weight management and other health areas.
DSM has also continued to invest in the merging area of personlised nutrition. In April its venturing arm pledged US$6.5m (€5.4m) in follow-on funding to US nutrigenomics company Sciona - a move that means the Dutch company is now a major shareholder in Sciona.
At the year IOI-Loders Croklaan division Lipid Nutrition strengthened its position in the world CLA market with the acquisition of PharmaNutrients' CLA One business. In October Lipid Nutrition became a separate entity from Loders Croklaan, and this month Katinka Abbenbroek became CEO, successor to retiring veteran Aat Visser.
In the US, Zila announced the sale of its nutraceuticals division to NBTY for US$37.5m in order to concentrate on its pharmaceutical interests. Advanced vitamin C ingredient Ester-C, popular in Europe, was one of the main components of the Zila unit.
Swiss biotech company Lonza announced in May the latest move to expand its nutritional ingredients portfolio, with the acquisition of the larch arabinogalactan assets of US firm Larex Inc.
Lonza's plan to expand its nutrition portfolio kicked off last December with the acquisition of Nutrinova's DHA business, striking out from niacin, or vitamin B3, and the vitamin-like substance L-carnitine to food and supplement makers.
Earlier in the year Cognis was reported to be discussions with three potential purchasers, but after conducting a strategic review the holding company decided in August not to pursue any of the options at the present time but to continue its investment for the next couple of years.
Some activity is expected from French plant extract supplier Naturex next year. In June it raised €13.2m by issuing more than a quarter of a million new shares - much of which is earmarked for acquisitions. Its last acquisition was in June 2005, of US player Pure World; with a $37m (€30m) price tag, this was no small transaction for Naturex, which last year had a turnover of €34.8m for full year 2004.
