69 acquisitions in October

69 food and drink transactions were recorded in the bevblog.net mergers and acquisitions database for October.

5 involved sums of more than $500 million, of which 2 reached $1 billion:

• €1,000 million in combined sales for the Irish merger of Lakeland Dairies and LacPatrick Dairies

• $1,080 million for Hearthside Food Solutions to buy Irish Greencore’s US business

• $650 million for Italy’s Lavazza to purchase Mars Drinks

• $628 million for India’s Zydus Wellness to take on selected Indian assets from Kraft Heinz

• $600 million for D1 private equity and others to provide funding to Instacart’s online delivery service in the United States.

Of the 69 total, 9 were in ingredients, 8 in soft drinks, 6 in snacks, 5 in general food, 5 in hot drinks, 5 in services, 4 in alcohol and 4 in confectionery.

30 were within individual countries, 21 of these in United States, 3 in the United Kingdom and 2 in Germany. 39 were international.

Of the 27 countries affected, the United States featured in 36 overall, the United Kingdom in 13, Germany in 7, Ireland in 5, Switzerland in 5, followed by Australia, Canada and Italy on 4 each.