Food, Beverage & Agriculture | M&A Industry Update | Q4 2025

A robust year for M&A, on the back of inflation stabilisation

European Food, Beverage, and Agriculture M&A remained resilient in Q4 2025, with strong H2 performance and total transaction volume up 2.5% year-on-year. Q4 deal volume rose ~22% compared to Q3, yet aggregate deal value declined due to several large-cap transactions having completed in Q3. Buyers continued to prioritise defensive, premium assets characterised by strong brands, predictable margins, robust ESG credentials and resilient supply chains.

In the UK & Ireland, mid-market activity mirrored broader European trends. While H2 was softer than H1, transaction levels were up 4% year-on-year, underscoring the region’s structural resilience.

Public markets also showed renewed momentum. The European FB&A IPO pipeline remains robust, highlighted by the £400m listing of Princes Group on the London Stock Exchange and the successful spin-out and listing of Magnum Ice Cream Company from Unilever.

Transaction multiples have slightly decreased from H1 to H2 2025.

februari 25, 2026,

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Food, Beverage & Agriculture – Industry Update Winter 2025

Key themes across 2025

1. Health, Functional and Wellness Integration: Functional ingredients such as collagen, probiotics and adaptogens are now embedded in everyday food and drink, reflecting demand for preventative health. What was once a supplements category is now integrated into core FMCG.

In Q4, Supreme acquired the UK and European operations of SlimFast from Glanbia plc. Zydus Wellness also strengthened its position through the acquisition of Comfort Click, highlighting continued investor appetite for scalable, health-focused platforms.

2. Strategic Simplification Drives Deal Flow: Corporate portfolio rationalisation remained a defining feature, as large strategics continued to streamline operations and sharpen category focus. Groups divested non-core or slower-growth assets to concentrate capital on higher-margin, higher-growth segments such as health, premiumisation and branded platforms market.

3. Resilience and Pricing Power Shape Ingredients M&A: Trade buyers prioritised targets that improved margins, traceability and vertical integration, focusing on specialty ingredients and value-added processing to support pricing and protect supply in a volatile environment. Private equity remained active, backing scalable businesses with solid cash flow and operational upside. Notable transactions included Nexture’s acquisition of specialities manufacturer Oferta Genuina.

Engaging in future opportunities

Sentiment heading into 2026 remains optimistic, supported by a healthy pipeline of live processes and renewed sponsor engagement following improved financing conditions. With multiple assets already in market and corporates continuing to review portfolios, visibility on deal flow into H1 2026 is strong.

Over the Pond – 2025 Review and 2026 outlook

Deal Activity Begins to Accelerate

The last several months have seen a flurry of M&A activity in the food and beverage category, with both strategic and financial buyers showing a willingness to pay robust prices for high growth brands. Recent examples include Marzetti’s $400 million acquisition of Bachan’s, the breakout Japanese barbeque sauce brand; L Catterton’s majority investment in Good Culture, which valued the premium cottage brand at over $500 million and MPearlRock’s acquisition of The Good Crisp Co. Beyond brands, two of the largest publicly-traded private label platform announced they were being acquired – TreeHouse Foods by Investindustrial in a $2.9 billion transaction and SunOpta by Refesco in a $1.1 billion deal. Lastly, the IPO window appears to be cracking open as evidenced by Once Upon A Farm’s successful $198 million IPO, which valued the celebrity-backed baby food brand at nearly 4x revenue. In addition, Suja, a leading cold-pressed juice brand announced it has filed a registration statement and is expected to list shortly.

Food & Beverage Brands Still Dealing With Input Price Volatility

At the start of the year, businesses and consumers were dealing with unprecedented spikes in egg and cocoa prices. While both of those commodities’ prices have returned to more normalized levels, coffee and beef prices have increased throughout 2025 and remain at extremely elevated levels. Companies have responded by selectively reformulating products, optimizing price pack architecture (a fancy way of saying “shrinkflation”) and as a last option, passing prices along to an already stretched consumer.

Macroeconomic Indicators Sending Mixed Signals

In the U.S., economists and the markets are sorting through a mixed bag of economic statistics and trying to separate the message from the noise. On one hand, consumer sentiment remains depressed, fears of AI-driven job losses and elevated interest rates are constraining spending for consumers outside the top 10% income bracket, causing volume growth to be elusive for most businesses. On the other hand, the most recent jobs report came in stronger than expected, the most recent inflation reading was lower than expected and the stock market continues to set new highs.

2026 Outlook

Looking ahead, we remain optimistic about 2026. In our recent processes, we’ve seen strong buyer interest at valuations above our clients’ initial expectations. Buyers remain extremely interested in differentiated brands, strong manufacturing platforms and distribution businesses with defensible moats. Our backlog is as strong as it has ever been, and we’re excited to see what this year has in store for our clients and the broader food & beverage category!

Snapshot of European Food, Beverage & Agriculture M&A deal activity

TAKING THE LONG VIEW – DEAL VOLUMES ARE STABILISING WITH 2H 2025 DEAL ACTIVITY SLIGHTLY EXCEEDING Y-O-Y

Number of announced acquisitions of European-based FB&A companies (deal value below USD 500m) & food inflation index rate from ECB

Note: 1) Rate calculated as the median rate
Source: Mergermarket, European Central Bank

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The full report, including observations from ISM Cologne 2026, public company valuations & operating metrics as well as public comparables by subsector, can be downloaded at the top of the page.

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