M&A

Private equity fund manager Pacific Equity Partners' (PEP) Patties Foods has purchased New Zealand’s Leader Products, a manufacturer of frozen convenience food products.

After Syngenta rejected Monsanto’s $44.5bn takeover offer last month, Monsanto has said it will keep pursuing the deal.

The Dutch banking group has hired Donald Meltzer as vice chairman and head of mergers and acquisitions of its North America wholesale banking division, based in New York.

All signs are pointing towards a consolidation of the food and agribusiness sector in India, according to Hemendra Mathur, managing director at a private equity firm focusing on investment into SMEs.

Lazard, the US financial advisory and asset management firm, has hired Alberto Weisser as senior advisor for global agribusiness and related sectors in its financial advisory department.

Food & agriculture was one of the top 10 industry sectors attracting Chinese overseas M&A investment in 2014, according to a recent report from KPMG. This is the first time it’s reached the top 10.

Mergers and acquisitions activity has transformed China’s agriculture sector, according to Deloitte.

The law firm conducted a survey of 80 professionals across the agribusiness, banking, consulting, commodity trading, food retail and not-for-profit sectors and noted the improving conditions for agri investment.