5 Oct 2026
Private equity is leading the recovery in global animal health mergers and acquisitions
Animal health M&A hasn’t just recovered, it’s been reshaped.
Private equity (PE) is both driving the rebound and changing who the winning buyers are. Based on our analysis of 1,850 global animal health transactions between 2021 and 2025, here’s the evidence, and what it means for you, whether you’re exploring a sale or simply watching the market.
The recovery is real, and PE built it
Global deal volume fell after 2022, then recovered to 406 deals in 2025, up 46% since 2021 and within 7% of the 2022 peak.
That recovery has one clear author. PE funds and PE-backed platforms made up 54% of all acquirers in 2025, the highest share and highest volume (around 220 deals) in five years. Take PE out of the picture, and the recovery barely happened.
Europe and North America drive 85% of this activity, so for most owners in the sector, this isn’t a distant trend. It’s happening in your market.
The buyer landscape has genuinely changed. Three buyer types now compete for deals in animal health:
- Strategic buyers – established companies acquiring others to grow directly, eg a feed additive manufacturer buying a competitor
- Financial buyers – PE funds buying companies directly for financial return
- Sponsor-backed buyers – companies owned by a PE fund, acquiring further businesses to build scale
Financial and sponsor-backed buyers together make up what we call private equity involvement.
No single buyer type controls this market anymore
In 2023, strategic buyers without PE backing made up 60% of deals. One type of buyer dominated, and owners had one obvious kind of conversation to have when they wanted to sell.
By 2025, that disappeared. Financial buyers reached 22%, their highest share in five years, and sponsor-backed platforms held 32%. Three buyer types, each active, each competing.
That’s the real shift: not just that PE is bigger, but that owners now have more than one credible path to a deal.
“Owners today have a wider set of potential buyers and deal structures to consider than they did two years ago. With our decades of sector experience and global network, we’re well placed to help owners navigate that complexity and find the right partner for their business, wherever in the world that buyer may be.”
– Bart Jonkman, Managing Partner, Investec Advisory
Why this matters even if you’re not selling
Active PE capital signals real deal appetite, not just interest, from full acquisitions to sponsor-backed partnerships built for consolidation. This is relevant if you’re:
- Weighing succession
- Considering a partial exit
- Simply want to understand how your business might be valued
Our market expertise put us in contact with the leading PE investors active in animal health, as well as strategic buyers. That gives us a clear view of the buyer landscape, and the right connections to it. The graph below shows a selection of relevant European PE firms for example.
Case study: Finding VievePharm the right buyer
VievePharm was a small, family-owned animal health company in rural Netherlands, built around a specialism in bolus technology. When its founder explored a sale and succession, he trusted Investec Advisory to lead the process.
At 15 employees, VievePharm was the kind of business most buyers overlook. We didn’t. Two decades in animal health showed us what the headcount didn’t: a leading bolus technology range, export relationships across 25+ markets, and real platform potential. We took the opportunity to nine countries globally.
The response exceeded expectations. 10 parties, from listed corporates to private equity houses, competed for the business. We guided the founder to the best outcome.
The buyer was Zenex Animal Health, one of India’s largest animal health companies, backed by Multiples Equity. They saw VievePharm as its new European base. Investec closed the deal on excellent terms for the founder and his family, well ahead of what a domestic-only search would likely have achieved.
Rather than being absorbed product line, VievePharm now operates as Zenex’s European platform, with production and jobs retained locally.
About Investec Advisory
For over two decades, we’ve advised founders, companies and private equity firms on their M&A transactions. Our animal health expertise runs deep, and our reach is global.
Want to talk through what this means for your business?
Contact Bart Jonkman and Thom Deckers