News from Brakke Consulting

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Brakke Consulting’s
Animal Health News & Notes for December 29, 2023
Copyright © Brakke Consulting.
Editor: Lynn Fondon DVM MBA
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KEEPING THE INDUSTRY INFORMED SINCE 1999

As we ended 2022 and looked ahead to 2023, we wondered if the US economy would enter into a recession. And here we are looking ahead to 2024, wondering if the recession will happen this year. We can look at interest rates, energy prices, money supply and still not be sure of a soft or hard landing. Like I mentioned last year, the animal health industry is resilient, and we will drive our way through another year.

This last edition of News & Notes summarizes the things that happened in 2023 that we covered each week throughout the year. From acquisitions, mergers, company news, launches, approvals and deals, you’ll be reminded of what happened. You can find all the newsletters here if you’d like more detail on a noteworthy item.

Thanks should go to two members of our team. Dr. Lynn Fondon has been the editor of the News & Notes for 24 years and succinctly curates the news items for our readers every week. And Amanda McDavid pulls it all together and gets it out to you every Friday. Thanks to both of you for publishing a terrific newsletter.

More thanks are due. First, thanks to all our clients and customers and we hope that we have made your business better, more profitable, and more competitive. Second, thanks to all the Brakke Consultants for another great year. It is a pleasure to work with a team of industry professionals with the depth and breadth of experience and knowledge they have. And we welcomed three new consultants to the team in 2023, Lourens Havenga, Rich Hayworth and Mauri Moreira, who all add to the breadth and depth of our consulting team.

Finally, thanks to you, our News & Notes readers and we hope our weekly newsletter has helped you do what you do better. So, let’s not worry if the landing is going to be soft or hard, let’s do better in 2024 than we did last year. Just takes drive.

Bob Jones

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BRAKKE CONSULTING
Announcing the 2024 Brakke Industry Overview

Presented at VMX: Monday, January 15^th, 2-4 pm, Hyatt Regency, Orlando Ballroom N
Presented at WVC: Monday, February 19^th, 2-4 pm, Four Seasons Hotel- Acacia Ballroom 1

How did the top animal health companies perform in 2023? And what critical issues will impact industry performance in 2024? Answers to these questions and more will be covered at Brakke Consulting’s annual Industry Overview at the VMX and WVC conferences next year. Key topics and presenters include:

Industry and top global company performance, presented by Bob Jones
What 2023 looked like in vet practices and with pets, presented by John Volk
An overview of the post-COVID home delivery channel for pet medications including results from the new Pet Medicines Home Delivery Study, presented by Rich Hayworth
With recent advancements in technology-related products in livestock production and pet care, where is the value and what are the risks? presented by Lourens Havenga

Also, again at both events, you will be able to hear directly from a panel of top leaders in the animal health industry. Moderated by Paul Casady, the topic for the panel will be “Opportunities and Challenges in 2024.” The panel for VMX and WVC will be announced soon.

This information-packed 2-hour session will be especially valuable for executive leadership, sales and marketing, strategy, and finance managers and for decision makers in the animal health industry.

Click here to register for VMX

Click here to register for WVC

You can also email Amanda McDavid or call at 336-396-3916. Registration cost is $399; there are discounts for multiple attendees from the same company. We look forward to seeing you there!

www.BrakkeConsulting.com

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ACQUISITIONS, MERGERS, NEW COMPANIES:

January

Arlington Capital Partners acquires Charles River Laboratories’ Avian Vaccine Services business
Barkleigh Productions acquires National Dog Groomers Association of America
Butterfly acquires Milk Specialties Global
Mitsui & Co acquires all shares in Sumitomo Pharma Animal Health
Novus acquires Agrivida
PetMexExpress acquires PetCareRx
Wag! acquires Dog Food Advisor
Woolworths Group acquires majority stake in Australia-based Petspiration

February

Beach Point Capital acquires a controlling stake in Wet Noses
Nestle Purina PetCare acquires Red Collar Pet Food’s pet treat facility in Oklahoma
Nutreco acquires a minority stake in BiomEdit
Scholtus Group acquires Big Creek Foods
United Pet Food acquires a stake in Turkey-based Lider Pet Food
Voff acquires Netherlands-based Energique raw food producer

March

Akorn Pharmaceuticals files for chapter 7 bankruptcy
Earthwise acquires Loyal Biscuit
LexaGene Holdings files for chapter 7 bankruptcy
Natural Balance merges with Canidae
Paramount acquires 4 online retailers (Fetch, Medic Animal, Pet Supermarket, Pet Meds) and 2 pet food brands (Bob & Lush, K9 Choice) from Paws Group
Wedgewood acquires Front Range Laboratories

April

Fresh dog food company Butternut Box acquires Poland-based PsiBufet
Gryphon Investors acquires Vetnique Labs
Houchens Industries acquires Feeders Pet Supply
Mars acquires Heska
Pinnacle Pet Group acquires Animal Friends Investments, and HD Assurances
Royal DSM acquires Adare Biome from Adare Pharma Solutions
Spunky Pup acquires PetKnowledge
Sun Pharmaceuticals acquires a majority stake in Vivaldis Animal Health

May

Alltech acquires a majority interest in Switzerland-based Agolin
IMV Technologies Group acquires Belgium-based Veterinary Solutions
Innovet acquires Switzerland-based Herbonis and its affiliates, including Wyreside
JAB Holdings acquires majority interest in Pumpkin Insurance, with Zoetis retaining a significant minority interest
PARI acquires Ireland-based Nortev, manufacturer of equine inhaler Flexineb
Post Holdings acquires several pet food brands from J.M. Smucker
VetPartners acquires Netherlands-based Dierenastsen Groep Nederland
Virbac acquires GS Partners, its distributor in Czech Republic and Slovakia
Zomedica acquires Structured Monitoring Products, maker of VetGuardian

June

BrightPet Nutrition Group acquires Raw Advantage Processing
Cargill acquires India-based Zoonivet
Destination Pet acquires Pet Palace Boarding Resort
EQT acquires Dechra
Farm Health Guardian merges with NoveTechnologies
MidOcean Partners acquires QualiTech
TopSpin Consumer Partners acquires the consumer products division of Three Dog Bakery
Zydus Animal Health acquires a minority stake in Mylab Discovery Solutions

July

The Andersons acquires ACJ International
Bug Bite Thing acquires TickEase
Performance Livestock Analytics separates from Zoetis as an independent company
VAFO Group acquires Poland-based Pooch & Mutt
Wedgewood merges with Blue Rabbit

August

Domes Pharma acquires SentrX Animal Care
Mars acquires SYNLAB Vet
Natural Balance and Canidae merge under the corporate name Ethos Pet Brands
PAI Partners acquires Alphia from JH Whitney Capital Partners
Revival Animal Health acquires Breeder’s Choice
Select Sires and Inguran/STgen agree to merge into a new company
Veterinary Service Inc. acquires MWI’s poultry business
Zoetis acquires PetMedix

September

BioAdaptives spins off its Livestock Impact Division as a wholly owned subsidiary
Independence Pet Group acquires Felix cat pet insurance
Revival Animal Health acquires Creative Science
Zoetis acquires German-based adivo

October

EQT acquires Australia-based VetPartners from NVA
P3 Technologies acquires Heartland Veterinary Pharmacy and VetApproved Pharmacy
Pangolia acquires Catster and Dogster brands from Belvoir Media Group
Post Holdings acquires assets of Perfection Pet Foods
Sunshine Mills acquires a pet food production facility from Red Collar Pet Foods
Virbac acquires India-based Globion
Voff acquires Netherlands-based Carnibest raw pet food manufacturer
Wind Point Partners acquires Assisi Pet Care Group Ltd
Zomedica acquires Qorvo Biotechnologies

November

American Pet Products Association (APPA) acquires The Pet Summit
Fressnapf acquires Dutch pet retailer Jumper Groep
Paw Prosper acquires K9 Karts
T-Medical Group acquires 365Televet.com

December

Active Partners acquires an interest in KatKin
Antelope acquires My Perfect Pet
Assisi Pet Care Group acquires UK-based Burns Pet Nutrition
Astrasana Holding acquires majority interest in Releaf for Pets
Blackstone acquires Rover Group
Phenna Group acquires UK-based Eville & Jones
Sonae acquires Finnish Musti Group
Zenex acquires India-based Ayurvet

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PRODUCT LAUNCHES, APPROVALS, LICENSING DEALS: