dsm-firmenich’s agreement to divest its Animal Nutrition & Health (ANH) business to CVC Capital Partners marks a decisive strategic realignment, accelerating its transition from a diversified B2B agri-input player towards a consumer-focused nutrition, health and beauty company. Valued at an enterprise value of approximately €2.2 billion, including a potential earnout of up to €0.5 billion, the transaction represents the final step in a portfolio reshaping that began with the €1.5 billion sale of feed enzymes to Novonesis in 2025.
For the global dairy and livestock ecosystem, the divestment is less about an exit from animal nutrition and more about a structural reorganisation of value creation models. The ANH business will be split into two standalone entities: a Solutions Company encompassing performance nutrition, premixes and precision services, and an Essential Products Company housing vitamins, carotenoids and aroma ingredients. This separation mirrors the growing divergence between customised, knowledge-intensive nutrition solutions and capital-heavy, scale-driven ingredient manufacturing, each requiring distinct investment horizons and risk appetites.
CVC’s acquisition highlights private equity’s continued confidence in animal nutrition as a defensive, cash-generative sector underpinned by long-term growth in global animal protein demand, particularly dairy. With ANH generating annualised net sales of around €3.5 billion in 2025, the implied valuation multiple of roughly 7x EV/Adjusted EBITDA reflects a more cautious market environment, shaped by margin compression, regulatory tightening and rising sustainability-linked capital expenditure across livestock systems.
Strategically, dsm-firmenich’s decision to retain a 20% equity stake in both successor companies signals ongoing conviction in the sector’s long-term fundamentals, while reducing direct operational and balance-sheet exposure. Notably for dairy markets, the company has retained ownership of high-impact sustainability technologies such as Bovaer®, aimed at methane reduction in ruminants, and Veramaris™, a key alternative omega-3 platform. This allows dsm-firmenich to remain embedded in food-system transformation without operating large-scale feed and livestock nutrition businesses.
From a capital allocation standpoint, the proposed €0.5 billion share buyback programme and adoption of a stable-to-rising dividend policy underscore management’s intent to reposition the company as a predictable, consumer-led growth story, distancing itself from the cyclicality of agri-commodity-linked earnings. The anticipated €1.9 billion non-cash impairment, however, highlights the financial cost of strategic simplification after years of conglomerate expansion.
For the dairy sector, the transaction raises a broader strategic question: will the decoupling of animal nutrition from broader food and human nutrition innovation accelerate specialisation and efficiency, or dilute cross-value-chain synergies that have historically supported integrated R&D? Under CVC ownership, the future trajectory of ANH will depend on its ability to preserve science-led differentiation while navigating intensifying regulatory oversight, sustainability mandates and pricing pressure from increasingly consolidated dairy processors.