Frutarom, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Heineken, Orkla and Unilever were the most acquisitive companies of 2017, according to the bevblog.net food and drink transactions database, with each responsible for 6 or more takeovers. Lactalis, Nestlé and US Foods all made 5 purchases.
Coca-Cola was only company to agree 5 or more sales, followed by Treasury Wine Estates on 4, then Asahi, Coke Consolidated, Kraft Heinz, Murray Goulburn, Nestlé and Unilever on 3 each. Coca-Cola undertook 14 separate divestments as it concluded its franchise restructuring.
A total of 1,161 companies were involved across 64 countries, with the United States and United Kingdom most prominent overall.
France was the biggest net buyer (+19), followed by Belgium (+16), Switzerland (+15) and Israel (+11).
The United Sates was the main net seller (-42), followed by the United Kingdom (-22), Australia (-10) and Brazil (-10).