Gelnex

History

2022: Darling Ingredients acquires Gelnex for $1.2bn

On October 18, 2022, the American Darling Ingredients, which produces food ingredients and additives, announced the purchase of the Brazilian collagen manufacturer Gelnex (its products are officially supplied to Russia) for $1.2 billion.

The manufacturer of ingredients for the bioenergy industry Darling Ingredients seeks to increase the production of collagen made from fattened livestock, and therefore began negotiations with Gelnex back in 2021. The deal will allow Darling Ingredients to ramp up production capabilities in South America, and the company itself operates its own collagen product brand Rousselot, which has 11 plants in four countries.

The collagen market, as expected by the management of Darling Ingredients, will double to 2027 as this protein becomes a popular ingredient in additives and skin care products, due to the fact that it helps to smooth wrinkles and has a beneficial effect on hair, nails, joints, bones and muscles. Collagen peptides have technological advantages - such as high solubility, thermal stability and relatively high precipitation resistance - that allow collagen to be used in a wide variety of products.

Gelnex, headquartered in Brazil and with five plants in South America and one in the United States, has the ability to produce 46 thousand metric tons of collagen products per year, which it exports to more than 60 countries around the world. Gelnex employs about 1.2 thousand people. Baltic Group JSC is the exclusive distributor of Peptinex P hydrolyzed pork collagen and Peptinex B hydrolyzed beef collagen in Russia.

Morgan Stanley & Co LLC acted as exclusive financial adviser to Darling Ingredients on the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023. Banco Santander Brasil SA advised Gelnex.^[1]

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