M&A Awards 2026: Zenex Animal Health acquires VievePharm (Best Deal Small Cap 2026)

Deal Outline: 

In February 2026, Zenex Animal Health, one of India’s largest animal health companies, acquired a 70% stake in VievePharm B.V., a Dutch specialist in livestock boluses and feed supplements based in Enter, Overijssel. Zenex has a 60-year track record in India, revenues well above €100 million, more than 1,200 sales professionals and a commercial presence in more than 15 countries. 

Founded in 2006 by Arie Boorsma, VievePharm has grown into one of the world’s leading bolus companies. It produces boluses, mineral and vitamin supplements, udder health products and phytogenic formulations for livestock, is GMP+, FSA and Skal certified, employs approximately 15 people and serves customers in more than 25 countries. 

Investec advised the founder on the sale of 100% of his shares. Zenex acquired 70% for cash at closing, at an entry valuation of 11x EBITDA, with the remaining 30% to be acquired in three annual tranches of 10%. VievePharm will serve as Zenex’s European buy-and-build platform. 

  

Why This Deal Should Win the Award for Best Deal Small-Cap 2026: 

Despite being relatively small, VievePharm is one of the leading bolus companies in the global animal health market. Buyers of a business like VievePharm were not buying headcount; they were buying capability, certification and market access. VievePharm was therefore positioned as a certified European production platform with leading bolus technology, the broadest bolus range identified in the market screening, phytogenic expertise and an established reputation across more than 25 export markets. 

This positioning allowed the process to go well beyond the Netherlands. Approximately 50 potential buyers were approached in Belgium, France, Germany, the UK, Denmark, Italy, China, the US and India; 24 signed NDAs and ten submitted offers, including two London-listed companies, German, Dutch and French strategic buyers, an Indian PE-backed corporate and several private equity firms. A structured second round pushed the field hard: the Dutch strategic more than doubled its first offer, the French party raised its bid by almost 30%, and six parties ended within a narrow band at the top. 

The French bidder emerged as the founder’s preferred party, and the LOI was only days away. Then everything changed. Investec’s Mumbai team knew Zenex and its sponsor Multiples Equity, and just before the LOI was due, Multiples signalled that Zenex was prepared to pay more than 10x EBITDA, an unusual call for a company of this size. Negotiations were reopened and the valuation was taken to 11x EBITDA. 

For Arie Boorsma, the decision was not solely about price. The structure provided a clear solution for succession: Arie and the management team remained invested, while his daughter Kelly Boorsma and her husband Ruud Mensink became shareholders and take on an important role in the next chapter of VievePharm as Zenex’s European platform. 

Bringing a Dutch family-owned business, an Indian corporate and an Indian PE sponsor together was a challenge in itself. Dutch and Indian practices differ on due diligence, warranties, disclosure, conditionality and SPA detail, which required a month of intensive, often daily legal calls. When inventory became a sticking point, Zenex’s CEO, CFO, COO and adviser, together with members of the Multiples team, travelled to Enter and resolved it in person on the factory floor. VievePharm is now the European platform of a group with well over €100 million of revenue, while its founder and team remain in place and production and jobs stay in Enter. 

  

Impact of This Deal on the Company: 

VievePharm can now accelerate its growth across new geographies, using an established sales force to put its technology in front of farmers worldwide, including in India. The fit runs both ways: Zenex gains a certified Western European production and innovation base, bolus technology it did not previously have and a phytogenic portfolio that complements its Ayurvedic range. 

Crucially, VievePharm is not absorbed as a product line, but becomes the group’s European platform, selling Zenex’s solutions across Europe through its existing relationships in more than 25 countries. The two companies are already looking for European bolt-ons together. 

  

Impact of This Deal on Direct Stakeholders: 

For Arie Boorsma, the deal delivers certainty and continuity: the majority stake was paid in cash at closing, while a retained minority stake keeps him invested in what VievePharm becomes next. His daughter and her husband became shareholders of a platform backed by a €100m+ group, and the rest of the team gains continuity and the career paths that greater scale offers. 

Customers, vets and distributors in 25+ countries see no disruption, while gaining a wider portfolio, stronger supply security and continued innovation. Zenex and Multiples gain their first Western European base, and a rural Dutch production site with skilled jobs has been given an international mandate instead of being ‘consolidated away’. 

  

Impact of This Deal on Society: 

Antimicrobial resistance is recognised by the WHO as one of the most serious threats to global public health, and a significant share of antimicrobial use still occurs in livestock farming. The EU’s Farm to Fork strategy targets a 50% reduction in sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals by 2030, which only works if farmers have preventive alternatives. VievePharm’s boluses and phytogenic supplements support udder health, fertility and immunity before disease sets in, and can be administered specifically to the animals that need them. 

What this transaction adds is reach. Technology developed under European standards of animal welfare and food safety now gains access to a distribution network covering India, the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, markets where demand for animal protein is growing and preventive alternatives to antibiotics can play an increasingly important role. 

  

Most Complex Aspect of This Deal: 

The most persistent complexity came from promoting VievePharm’s family-owned nature, relatively small scale and international reach. Some parties initially declined to engage purely because of the company’s size, and the breadth of the process created its own challenge: ten international offers with reinvestment terms ranging from 10% to 45% and different combinations of earn-outs, vendor loans and real estate approaches had to be turned into a single, decision-ready comparison of value, certainty and structure. 

The final challenge was bridging the gap with the requirements of a large Indian corporate buyer and its PE sponsor, particularly on due diligence and documentation. The local relationships of Investec’s Mumbai team, combined with the work in the Netherlands, made it possible to bridge differences in transaction practices, keep the process moving and bring the transaction to a successful close. 

---

Vote for ? You can't change this later.

Confirm vote Cancel