C.J. Foods, Inc. a provider of specialty dry pet food manufacturing services for superpremium pet food brands in the United States, announced that they have acquired Lortscher Animal Nutrition, Inc., (LANI) a custom milling and ingredient supplier to the pet food industry for over sixty years. LANI is based in Bern, Kansas, USA with additional locations in Seneca, Kansas and Brownwood, Texas.
“The purchase of Lortscher Animal Nutrition increases C.J. Foods Holdings investment share in the Super Premium Pet food manufacturing space at a time when our team and board are very bullish about the future of this market segment,” Tod Morgan, C.J. Foods CEO said in a press release.
LANI will continue to operate as a separate business unit under its current name while the current management team will continue to lead the business with their proven skills and strategies to serve an ever changing marketplace.
“With the availability of additional capital for investments, we believe that LANI can be even more successful in growing the scale of their product and service portfolios while clients of both businesses continue to receive the same high quality products and services, which they have come to expect,” said Morgan.
JHW/CJ Foods Holdings is a portfolio company of J.H. Whitney, a Connecticut-based private equity firm. J.H. Whitney has owned C.J. Foods since 2014.
Other recent mergers and acquisitions in the pet food industry
1. Canadian Transcontinental Inc. acquires Coveris Americas
April 8, 2018
Transcontinental Inc, a Canada-based printer and supplier of flexible packaging in North America, has agreed to acquire Coveris Americas, a converter of flexible packaging and other value-added products in North America.
2. J.M. Smucker will acquire Ainsworth Pet Nutrition
April 4, 2018
The J. M. Smucker Company signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, LLC for approximately US$1.7 billion, after an estimated tax benefit of US$200 million.
3. Canadian packaging supplier acquires US supplier
March 12, 2018
Transcontinental Inc., a Canadian supplier of flexible packaging, has acquired Multifilm Packaging Corporation, a flexible packaging supplier located in Elgin, near Chicago, Illinois, employing over 70 people.
4. General Mills buys Blue Buffalo for US$8 billion
February 23, 2018
General Mills, Inc. and Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. entered into a definitive agreement under which General Mills will acquire Blue Buffalo for approximately US$8 billion, or US$40 per share in cash.
5. GPP and ING acquired dog and cat treat supplier Schlotus
February 16, 2018
Scholtus Group Holding B.V., a supplier of dog and cat treats in Europe, was acquired by Global Pet Products Holding (GPP), a investment firm active in the pet industry and ING Corporate lnvestments B.V., a 100 percent subsidiary of ING Bank N.V., reported GlobalPETS.
6. Danish Agro acquires Latvian pet food and agribusiness
January 25, 2018
Danish Agro’s subisdiary Baltic Agro Latvia has concluded a deal to acquire 60 percent of the shares in agribusiness company Tukuma Straume, which also produces pet food.
7. Mars acquires pet genetic testing company Genoscoper
January 22, 2018
On January 11, Mars Petcare announced their acquisition of Genoscoper Laboratories.
8. Kemin acquires Canadian animal feed distributor
January 10, 2018
Kemin Industries, a global ingredient supplier, has announced the creation of a Canadian division and will hold a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on January 18, 2018, at its new location in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada.
9. Cargill acquires Pro-Pet private label pet food maker
January 2, 2018
Cargill has reached an agreement to acquire Pro-Pet, an Ohio-based manufacturer of private label and co-manufactured pet foods, including premium dog food brand Black Gold.
