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M&A appetite in the Nordics Food & Agro space remains strong during H2’22 with deal activity increasing 21% compared to the same period in 2021.

Market uncertainties and a turbulent economic environment has not put a stop to the wish for continuous growth through M&A as we have witnessed one of the most active H2 periods in six years. Intra-Nordic transactions remain the key growth driver with a lot of Nordic companies seeking to expand their Scandinavian presence. The Food sub-segment continues to be the most attractive space accounting for almost 2/5 of all transactions in H2’22, while the Agribusiness and Aquabusiness sub-segments each account for approximately 1/5 of the transactions in this period. Nordic companies operating within Beverage and Food Service & Distribution have both seen M&A activity in just above 1/10 deals the past half year.

Key insights:

  • Nordics Food & Agro deal flow was tremendously strong in H2’22 exceeding the same period in both 2018, 2019 and 2021, while at par with H2 in 2017 and 2020.
  • Intra-Nordic and domestic deals still drive M&A in the Nordics Food & Agro space, although we have witnessed an increase from international buyers.
  • Private Equity involvement remains fairly consistent on a four-year basis accounting for 16% of transactions during 2022.
  • Eight Nordic serial acquirers dominate the buy-side in the Food & Agro space with involvement in almost one out of five deals between 2017-2022.
  • Stock performance in Nordic Food & Agro sub-segments have had a rough year with only the Aquabusiness index outperforming the overall market, while the Food index ends on par with the Nordic stock market and the other indexes underperform.
  • Rolling 3-month average EV / NTM EBITDA multiples for listed peers in all sub-segments trade below their five-year average, implying a market still concerned with macroeconomic uncertainties and conflicts around the world.
  • The past six months have delivered some truly interesting deals, including: The largest Danish merger in history between Chr. Hansen and Novozymes (EUR 11.7 bn), SalMar’s acquisition of an additional 37% stake in NTS ASA giving them the majority control, The Lindström Family’s sale of Bubs Godis to Orkla, and Mowi’s majority-stake acquisition of Arctic Fish (EUR 169m).

You are welcome to access the entire report via the following link: Nordics Food & Agro M&A H2 2022 review (DocSend), or you can have it sent to you by contacting us.

Please do not hesitate to contact us.

You can find more information on our website at www.capitalmind.com/food-agro/

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