Sources said Ridley, a major producer of animal feed with a market capitalisation of some $700 million, was the underbidder for Staughton
One of the country’s largest pet food manufacturers has a new owner, after Denmark’s BHJ bested the ASX-listed Ridley Corporation in the auction for Staughton Group.– are still big drawcards, with BHJ paying just north of $100 million for Staughton. The company, which is headquartered near Albury, owns Cool Off, a producer of raw pet food and aggregator of offal from abattoirs, as well as Murray River Pet Food, which makes dry foods and sells it under its own brand and under private labels.
Denmark-headquartered BHJ, Staughton’s new owner, is an international supplier of raw materials and ingredients for the food, pet food, feed, pharmaceutical, and energy industries., which had engaged Miles Advisory for the sale process. Ridley was advised by Jarden Australia. It has been keen to expand, snapping up Oceania Meat processors, a producer of frozen meat blocks and other raw pet foods, in December. That deal is expected to close this month.
BHJ, meanwhile, was founded in 1969 and sources and processes raw materials from Danish slaughterhouses and fish producers to turn into pet food. Briefly listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, BHJ is owned by The Lauridsen Group, an investment group headquartered in Iowa which focuses on animal health and food.
As part of a reorganisation of its business, The Lauridsen Group merged BHJ’s proteins and stock ingredient division with another of its portfolio company’s, Proliant, to create a new brand called Essentia Protein Solutions. That left BHJ focused on raw pet foods.Of some note, Staughton was part-owned by AGR Partners, which manages around $US1 billion in investments focused on the agribusiness sector.The sale of Staughton to BHJ closed on Friday, sources said.
Also on the auction block was Greencross, a pet food and veterinary business which was to be sold to pharmaceutical and animal goods distributor EBOS for $3.75 billion in November. At the last minute, however,Staughton is a much smaller business than both VetPartners and Greencross, but it has been growing sales strongly. Its most recent accounts lodged with the corporate regulator shows revenues of $156.9 million in 2022, up from $132.1 million in 2021.