The merger strengthens Chr. Olesen’s position in the US market while providing Lalilab access to a wider range of food and pharma-related ingredients
Chr. Olesen Group, a fifth-generation Danish family-owned ingredients distributor, has completed the merger of its US subsidiary with Lalilab, Inc., based in North Carolina. This marks Chr. Olesen’s first transaction in the United States. The deal was arranged by ingredients sector M&A advisor, ThinkingLinking.
Bruno Baudet, President at Lalilab, Inc., said, “With this merger, Chr. Olesen Group will expand its footprint in the U.S. market, while Lalilab will enrich its product portfolio with a broader range of food and pharma-related products.”
Chr. Olesen stated, “Chr. Olesen Group has merged its FOOD activities in the US with the esteemed US family-owned company Lalilab, Durham, NC. This important step marks a new and expanded era for both Lalilab and Chr. Olesen Group.”
Mark Dixon, Chief Thinking Officer at ThinkingLinking, commented, “The deal brings together two family-owned businesses with a strong history of ingredients distribution in Europe and the US.”
Dixon also discussed how the deal aligns with broader trends in the ingredients sector, stating, “The natural ingredients sector has been following a macro trend toward becoming a single global market, where proprietary natural ingredients sourced and produced in one geography can reach B2B customers throughout the world. This is hardly surprising given the broadly-homogenous demands for end products from human beings across the world. Historically, the barriers to this logic, and the resulting inefficiencies, were largely legacy-based given the relatively low cost of transporting concentrated ingredients.”
He added, “The result of this globalisation is simple. It has meant that the best ingredients have been reaching B2B customers, and have enjoyed fast revenue growth, proportionately even higher profits growth, along with top valuations. By contrast, ingredients with inferior efficacy or attributes have been less able to survive due to reduced protection in their national markets and have seen their profits squeezed and valuations plummet.”
