Food industry cross border M&A deals total $323.74m globally in Q1 2021

Total food industry cross border M&A deals worth $323.74m were announced globally in Q1 2021, led by Al Ghurair Foods and Al Rajhi Holding Group’s $200m acquisition of Third Milling, according to GlobalData’s deals database.

The value marked a decrease of 93.3% over the previous quarter of $4.85bn and a drop of 90.7% when compared with the last four-quarter average, which stood at $3.48bn.

Comparing cross border M&A deals value in different regions of the globe, Middle East and Africa held the top position, with total announced deals in the period worth $207.65m. At the country level, the Saudi Arabia topped the list in terms of deal value at $200m.

In terms of volumes, Europe emerged as the top region for food industry cross border M&A deals globally, followed by North America and then Asia-Pacific.

The top country in terms of cross border M&A deals activity in Q1 2021 was the US with nine deals, followed by the UK with seven and The Netherlands with three.

In 2021, at the end of , cross border M&A deals worth $323.74m were announced globally in food industry, marking a decrease of 94.3% year on year.

Cross Border M&A deals in food industry in Q1 2021: Top deals

The top five cross border M&A deals in food industry accounted for 94.3% of the overall value during Q1 2021.

The combined value of the top deals stood at $298.62m, against the overall value of $323.74m recorded for the quarter.

The top five food industry cross border food deals of Q1 2021 tracked by GlobalData were:

1) Al Ghurair Foods and Al Rajhi Holding Group’s $200m acquisition of Third Milling

2) The $48.73m acquisition of majority stake in Pasta Evangelists by Barilla Holding

3) Siniora Food Industries’ $28.3m acquisition of 77% stake in Trakya ET

4) The $13.94m acquisition of Marathon Foods by Laita PGC

5) Nestle’s acquisition of 66.5% stake in Nestle Nigeria for $7.65m.

Verdict deals analysis methodology

This analysis considers only announced and completed cross border deals from the GlobalData financial deals database and excludes all terminated and rumoured deals. Country and industry are defined according to the headquarters and dominant industry of the target firm. The term ‘acquisition’ refers to both completed deals and those in the bidding stage.

GlobalData tracks real-time data concerning all merger and acquisition, private equity/venture capital and asset transaction activity around the world from thousands of company websites and other reliable sources.

More in-depth reports and analysis on all reported deals are available for subscribers to GlobalData’s deals database.