Merger-and-acquisition activity in the global dairy sector grew in 2017, fuelled by the availability of cheap capital.
The mega-deals of the year were Danone/ WhiteWave and Saputo/ Murray Goulburn, although the deals did not impact the rankings of Rabobank’s recently released Global Dairy Top 20, which had no new entrants for the second year running.
However the order has shifted. Nestlé tops the list, and French Lactalis swapped places with compatriot Danone and moved into second place, boosted by its acquisitions of US yoghurt businesses Stonyfield and Siggi’s.
Danone slipped to the third spot, after divesting Stonyfield following the acquisition of WhiteWave, reducing its stake in Yakult, and selling its holdings in the Al Safi Danone joint venture in Saudi Arabia.
Rabobank also said it saw an increased amount of ‘disruption’-based M&A deals, either defensive or opportunistic.
“By nature these deals are often small and involve start-ups, but they are growing in volume,” the company said.
