Innovad to acquire Herbonis to strengthen natural specialty feed ingredients portfolio

Antwerp – Innovad®, a leading provider of animal nutrition and health solutions, is pleased to an- nounce that it is acquiring all the shares of Herbonis a Swiss-based company and its affiliates, including Wyreside in the UK. The acquisition aims to strengthen Innovad’s portfolio of natural speciality feed ingredients and align with its strategy of expanding into primary ingredients. Herbonis is recognised as a leader in a niche market and Panbonis, a product containing the plant-based source of the metabolic active form of Vitamin D, represents a unique and highly technical product with proven health benefits in poultry, swine and dairy. From its inception, Innovad has been formulating its products with plant- based ingredients and this acquisition will strengthen its position — adding capacity and knowledge to support the growth in its botanicals, nutraceuticals product portfolio.

Ben Letor, Innovad CEO: “We view Herbonis as a high quality and recognised leader operating in a niche market. Herbonis has an impressive track record, dedicated team, independent mindset, and outstanding know-how on botanicals. Herbonis Group highly scientific and plant-based proposition matches perfectly with Innovad’s strong strategic commitment to becoming the centre of excellence and knowledge in phytogenic and plant-based products. Natural solutions represent a megatrend in our industry to address sustainability objectives as well as consumer demand, provided that such plant-based alternatives are well-researched, well-documented, cost-effective and with the lowest carbon footprint.”

Raetus Boehlen, Herbonis CEO: “Having deep understanding of bioactive plants with proprietary analytical tools, Herbonis has succeeded in bringing to the market an effective 100% plant-based technology. Panbonis has demonstrated its performance and return through its strong customer base & partnership. Many publications and outstanding scientific dossier evidence its unique mode of action. Being able to include Panbonis as part of Innovad’s broader product portfolio will allow Herbonis to tap into new entry points with a broader customer base. It was essential for the owners of Herbonis to hand the company to a group that would continue to invest, support and recognise the value of Herbonis and its team.”

Massimo Neri, Innovad Director Europe: “We are highly motivated to combine Herbonis with Innovad. We believe that Innovad’s strong sales organisation, well-established European footprint and global commercial network perfectly fits with our strategy of delivering the Panbonis brand more directly to end users. With a presence in 75 countries, we expect Innovad’s platform to help accelerate brand awareness and market access for Herbonis’s products. Together, we can create a strong portfolio of innovative and sustainable solutions which will support animal health and welfare.”

Remko Hilhorst, Managing Partner at IK Partners and Advisor to the IK IX Fund: “In today’s volatile environment, it is exciting to be adding Herbonis to Innovad’s product portfolio as we continue to work with the management team to unleash its plan for further sustainable growth. We hope this will help establish the Innovad Group as a global primary producer and leader focused on botanicals, biomonitoring programmes and specialised in feed solutions.“