Transaction Headlines
Schiff Nutrition Acquires Probiotic Brands & Technology Rights
Nestlé Health Science Acquires Prometheus Laboratories
Mistral Acquires Sustainable Pet Product Company
Marrone Bio Raises $25.4 Million Investment Round
Calavo Growers, Inc. Acquires Renaissance Food Group
Sara Lee Completes Acquisition of Aidells Sausage
Recyclebank Acquires GreenYour Guide
Frutarom Acquires Another Savory Business in Europe
Piper Buys Minority Stake in Celtic Sheepskin
General Mills Announces Agreements To Acquire Yoplait
SunOpta Divests Frozen Fruit Processing Assets

Schiff Nutrition Acquires Probiotic Brands & Technology Rights
Publicly traded Schiff Nutrition International Inc. (Salt Lake City, Utah) has purchased certain assets of Ganeden Biotech Inc. (Mayfield Heights, Ohio) for $40 million in cash. Schiff now owns worldwide exclusive rights to the probiotic strain GanedenBC30 in the OTC and dietary supplement spaces, and the Sustenex and Digestive Advantage brands under which BC30 is sold. The acquired assets and brands generated net revenue of approximately $17 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The probiotics category is growing more than 20% on an annualized basis, according to Nutrition Business Journal. “By acquiring the rights to the leading probiotics technology, we have entered a new, rapidly expanding category that creates accretive growth opportunities,” said Tarang Amin, president and CEO of Schiff Nutrition. For the six months ended November 30, 2010, Schiff Nutrition’s net sales were $104 million. Schiff’s brand portfolio includes Move Free joint supplements, Schiff vitamins, MegaRed krill oil and Tiger’s Milk nutrition bars.

Nestlé Health Science Acquires Prometheus Laboratories
Nestlé Health Science S.A., the health science unit of Nestlé S.A. (Vevey, Switzerland), has agreed to acquire Prometheus Laboratories Inc. (San Diego, Calif.), a company specializing in diagnostics and specialty pharmaceuticals in oncology and gastroenterology, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. In 2012 Nestlé expects Prometheus’s annualized sales to be around $250 million. The purchase price was not disclosed but estimated at around $1.1 billion by Reuters. Nestlé announced the creation of its health science unit in September 2010 to develop nutritional solutions for chronic and acute medical conditions. This is the unit’s third purchase. In February it acquired CM&D Pharma Ltd., a British company that develops medical foods for patients with kidney disease, inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer. Last year it acquired Vitaflo, also of the U.K., a provider of clinical nutrition products for people with metabolic disorders. Nestlé is a Nutrition Capital Network Cornerstone Investor.

Mistral Acquires Sustainable Pet Product Company
Mistral Equity Partners (New York City) has acquired Worldwise Inc. (San Rafael, Calif.), a supplier of environmentally sustainable pet products and accessories. Terms were not disclosed. Worldwise’s products are focused on dogs and cats and developed primarily from natural, certified organic, reclaimed or recycled materials. Products include beds, toys, scratchers, treats and litter accessories under the SmartyKat, PoochPlanet and Petlinks brands. Mistral’s portfolio includes Jamba Inc., Orval Kent Food Company and Country Pure Foods LLC.

Marrone Bio Raises $25.4 Million Investment Round
Marrone Bio Innovations Inc. (Davis, Calif.) has closed a $25.4 million Series C financing with three new investors and re-investment of existing investors. New investors are Syngenta Ventures, Mitsui Global Investment and a family investment trust. Existing investors include Stuart Mill Venture Partners, Contrarian Group, Saffron Hill Ventures, One Earth Capital, Clean Pacific Ventures and Calvert Social Ventures, in addition to several individuals. Marrone discovers, develops and markets environmentally responsible natural products for weed, plant disease and pest management. Marrone was a presenter at NCN II in New York in April 2008.

Calavo Growers Acquires Renaissance Food Group
Calavo Growers Inc. (Santa Paula, Calif.) has agreed to acquire Renaissance Food Group LLC (RFG, Rancho Cordova, Calif.), a closely held company that produces, markets and distributes healthy fresh food products. The transaction is for a combination of cash and stock, including earn-out payments. RFG was started in 2003 and has generated 54% compound annual growth through 2010; revenues are projected to exceed $100 million this year. RFG will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Calavo Foods business unit, which produces guacamole, premium fresh salsas, hummus and tortilla chips. RFG products include fresh-cut fruit, RTE salads and vegetables, recipe-ready vegetables, and healthy fresh snacks and sandwiches. Lee E. Cole, Calavo’s chairman, president and CEO, commented: “RFG will be a key growth driver of our company’s expansion in the fresh refrigerated packaged goods category.” Calavo had 2010 FY revenues of $398.4 million, up 16%.

Sara Lee Completes Acquisition of Aidells Sausage
Sara Lee Corp. (Downers Grove, Ill.) has completed its acquisition of Aidells Sausage (San Francisco), a maker of natural, hand-crafted chicken sausages, for $87-million. This expands Sara Lee's presence into the organic and natural meats segments while increasing its coverage of club stores and organic grocers. “Aidells' passion for making great-tasting, natural and organic sausages has attracted a loyal consumer following and shaped a truly premium brand,” said CJ Fraleigh, CEO of Sara Lee North America. Sara  Lee meat brands include Hillshire Farm and Jimmy Dean.

Recyclebank Acquires GreenYour Guide
Recyclebank (New York), a company that offers discounts and deals from more than 3,000 local and national businesses to consumers who take green actions such as recycling used electronics or listening to educational messages online, has announced the acquisition of GreenYour green living guide. Launched in 2008 by Andrew Shapiro, GreenYour aggregates eco-friendly tips and products on its website to help people live a more sustainable life. Shapiro has joined the Recyclebank’s Sustainability Advisory Council. Shapiro founded GreenOrder in 2000, a consulting company for green business.

Frutarom Acquires Another Savory Flavors Business in Europe
Frutarom Industries Ltd. (Haifa, Israel) has agreed to acquire the savory activity and assets of Chr. Hansen Italy for approximately $35.2 million in cash. It will be Frutarom’s third acquisition this year. The Italian business generated 2010 sales of approximately $24.3 million on an operational margin of 15%. It has a customer base of Italian meat processors and also sells into Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic and France. Frutarom has been building its savory flavors and functional ingredients business in Europe with a number of acquisitions, including the German companies Gewurzmuller and Nesse in 2007 and 2006, respectively, the German Savory Functional Systems activity of Chr. Hansen in 2009, and EAFI and Rieber in early 2011. Frutarom generated FY 2010 revenues of $451 million from its global flavorings and specialty fine ingredients business.

Piper Buys Minority Stake in Celtic Sheepskin
Piper Private Equity (London) has acquired a minority stake in Celtic Sheepskin (Newquay, Cornwall, U.K.), a mail order and internet retailer of sheepskin boots and natural clothing. Terms were not disclosed. Founded 20 years ago by a husband and wife team, in its early days Celtic Sheepskin’s boots were the original British Ugg boots until the company licensed the U.K. trademark to Ugg’s American owners and re-branded itself, according to a media release. Celtic Sheepskin’s sales exceed £8 million, and it has grown by an average of 20% every year for the last decade.

General Mills Announces Agreements To Acquire Yoplait
General Mills (Minneapolis, Minn.) has signed definitive agreements with PAI partners and Sodiaal of France to acquire a 51% controlling interest in Yoplait SAS and a 50% interest in a related entity that holds the worldwide Yoplait brands for approximately €810 million. Sodiaal, a leading French dairy cooperative, will hold the remaining ownership stakes in both entities. Yoplait (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) is the second largest brand in the global yogurt market, a category with 2010 retail sales totaling approximately $65 billion. Yoplait reported revenues of €724 million for fiscal year ended June 30, 2010. In December 2010, Yoplait acquired the Liberté yogurt business in Canada, which had CDN $186 million in 2010. In a joint statement, General Mills and Sodiaal noted that consumer demand for yogurt is growing in response to increased interest in foods that emphasize nutrition, convenience, flavor variety and value. In addition, per capita consumption levels for yogurt are still quite low in many international markets.

SunOpta Divests Frozen Fruit Processing Assets
SunOpta Inc. (Toronto), a leading global company focused on natural, organic and specialty foods, has sold frozen fruit processing equipment located in Salinas, Calif. to Cal Pacific Specialty Foods, LLC. The assets were previously leased to Cal Pacific and sold for their book value of approximately $1.8 million. Cal Pacific will continue to supply strawberries and other products to SunOpta. The divestiture is in line with SunOpta’s goal of simplifying its frozen fruit business model to focus on value-added private label frozen fruit products.