InLinking
NATURAL INGREDIENTS M&A
We are the pharma, nutraceuticals, food and cosmetics ingredient division of ThinkingLinking.
Industry
Our industry map
We work with natural ingredient businesses across pharma, nutraceutical, food, personal care and feed.
Natural ingredients are ingredients made from natural sources covering plant, animal, mineral or microbial, usually with minimal processing. The demand from the consumer for more natural ingredients and clean-labeled products has been there for a while and the natural ingredient segment continues to take an increasing share in the ingredient market.
Personalised nutrition is another evolving trend that is attracting more businesses investing time and budget in it, whether organically or through M&A, to get ahead of most players in the market.
Ingredient M&A
The pace of acquisitions in the ingredient sector, particularly for food & nutrition, has been accelerating. “Plant-based” and “clean-label” are the two key drivers behind this.
Big players are under pressure to come up with novel products to meet picky consumers’ demands as well as stay competitive in the market. Some of those companies are buying or establishing partnerships with specialist ingredient producers with progressive technology and know-how, to add on to their R&D capabilities, diversify the product offering or access new market and customers.
The high valuation in the ingredient industry (average 10-15 x EBITDA) makes it crucial for buyers to balance between price and strategic fit. Our buy-side methodologies are designed to help buyers achieve deeper synergy at a non-auction price.
Our main areas of focus
• Natural ingredient manufacturers in pharma, nutraceuticals, food, personal care
• Technologies for ingredient production or development
• Fundraising for innovative sciences
• Contract research organisations focused on pre-clinical drug discovery services
Ingredients M&A opportunities
ThinkingLinking’s database of 1,129 classified investment opportunities at 456 companies in Europe, the US and rest of the world. The resulting classified database allows a large number of opportunities to be quickly checked for their match with the 5D-criteria of any company, whether it is looking for M&A, licensing or other forms of alliance or joint venture.
Visit the Natural Ingredients Opportunities Clearinghouse.
Research
Natural Ingredients Directory - Natural ingredients opportunities
This is the first directory to be published of Natural Ingredients M&A opportunities. We classify 1,129 opportunities in Europe, the US and rest of the world according to a five-dimensional way of matching them with an acquirer’s M&A criteria. The opportunities include some of the most efficacious, scientifically-based ingredients covering all verticals: pharma, nutraceuticals, food & beverages, cosmetics and animal feed.
ThinkingLinking continues to pioneer research in the natural ingredients sector. Here, we ‘map out’ the sector by showing – with multi-dimensional pictorials – the relationship between the origins, processes, vertical markets and health claims for each ingredient type. All links in the research are backed up by one or more commercial ingredient, making the links not theoretical but representative of the state of the natural ingredients sector as it is today including the latest new product additions.
ThinkingLinking has developed a five-dimensional taxonomy to plot any natural ingredient according to these classifications: ingredient type, origin, process, vertical market and, where applicable, health claim. This allows an ingredient product or company to be seen clearly in a 360-degree way that is consistent for comparison or for matching in M&A or other purposes.
Alchemists go shopping - Cosmetic ingredients M&A
We investigated 50 transactions worth over €2 billion in the cosmetic ingredients industry, made by 45 buyers from 16 countries, and looked at the horizontal and vertical integration trends and synergies that the acquirers were seeking. The research shows this sector is ripe for continued M&A activity.