Mergers & Acquisitions – Biggest Buyers and Sellers in 2019
Orkla, Pernod Ricard, Nestlé, Asahi, PepsiCo, Lactalis, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Azelis, Berlin Packaging, Kirin and Waterlogic were the most acquisitive companies of 2019, according to the bevblog.net food and drink transactions database, with each responsible for 5 or more takeovers. Archer Daniels Midland, Bimbo, Diageo, Emmi, JBS and Refresco all made 4 purchases.
Campbell Soup was the only company to agree 5 or more sales, followed by Fonterra on 4, then Coca-Cola, Hain Celestial and Nestlé on 3. A total of 1,290 companies were involved across 59 countries, with the United States and United Kingdom most prominent overall.
GLOBAL FOOD AND DRINK TRANSACTIONS BY COUNTRY 2018-19
| Rank | Country | 2018 | 2019 |
| Top buyers | |||
| 1 | United States | 312 | 305 |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 94 | 93 |
| 3 | France | 39 | 51 |
| 4 | Spain | 29 | 35 |
| 5 | Canada | 26 | 25 |
| Top sellers | |||
| 1 | United States | 329 | 328 |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 116 | 130 |
| 3= | Spain | 34 | 41 |
| France | 24 | 41 | |
| 5 | Australia | 22 | 25 |
Source: Zenith Global
Japan was the biggest net buyer (+18), followed by France (+10), then Belgium and Norway (+9 each). The United Kingdom was the main net seller (-37), followed by the United States (-23), Australia (-16) and Brazil (-11).
