United Petfood, a Belgium-based producer of pet food, has acquired the Dutch company Animal Lovers. Animal Lovers is a producer of treats for dogs, horses and rodents in Coevorden in the Netherlands.

The acquisition of Animal Lovers will help United Petfood strengthen its position in the international dog treat market. Animal Lovers has 25 years of experience in the development and production of dog biscuits and currently sells their treat products globally. The acquisition will enable United Petfood and Animal Lovers to work further on new innovations and product developments.

Recent acquisitions in the pet food industry

United Petfood’s purchase of Animal Lovers is one of many recent acquisitions in the industry. Petfood Industry has published a list of nine acquisitions in the pet food industry so far in 2018. Many of the mergers are between pet food companies and ingredient suppliers.

For example C.J. Foods, Inc. a provider of specialty dry pet food manufacturing services for superpremium pet food brands in the United States, has acquired Lortscher Animal Nutrition, Inc., a custom milling and ingredient supplier to the pet food industry.

Other acquisitions are occurring between US companies and Canadian companies. For example, in March 2018, Transcontinental Inc., a Canadian supplier of flexible packaging, acquired Multifilm Packaging Corporation, a flexible packaging supplier located near Chicago, Illinois. Multifilm specializes in piece-wraps and high-barrier laminates for the confectionery, snacks and dry foods markets.