Antelliq
www.msd-animal-health.com/| Region: | Europe |
|---|---|
| Sector: | Healthcare |
| Investment Year: | 2013 |
| Transaction Value: | €1,070m |
Realised
BCEC IX acquired Allflex in July 2013 from the long-term owner of the business (since renamed Antelliq).
Initially a pure provider of identification devices to farmers, since its original acquisition, BC Partners supported management in transforming Antelliq into the worldwide leader in animal intelligence, providing solutions for the management of livestock, pets and fish.
Antelliq is now the world’s leading animal intelligence group, providing world-class devices for animal identification, monitoring, and traceability. Its pioneering monitoring solutions deliver smart data products and services for the management and wellbeing of livestock, fish and pets. These solutions help veterinarians, farmers and pet owners gather critical data to improve management, health and well-being of livestock and pets and use digital technology to help respond to the growing demand for protein, food traceability and food safety.
In June 2016, BCEC IX syndicated part of its equity to Limited Partner, largely de-risking the investment and returning capital to investors.
As a truly innovative market leader with a clear vision and dynamic team, Antelliq has significant potential to continue leading the industry, as the use of intelligence, data and technology play an increasingly important role in animal health and care and on the back of strong trading, in December 2018, the Fund entered into an agreement with Merck to sell the company, which completed in March 2019.
Investment Thesis
The investment thesis BC Partners underwrote for Antelliq was that there looked to be:
- Attractive Growth Driven by Long Term Secular Trends
- Fragmented Market with Strong Competitive Position
- Robust Barriers to Entry
- Strong Financial Performance
- Significant Potential Upsides
- Exit Optionality
- Seasoned Management Team
Post acquisition, BC Partners supported management in transforming Antelliq into the world’s leading animal intelligence group, mainly through four key pillars:
Strategic M&A and New Verticals: Expanding into strategically compelling adjacencies through acquisitions which enabled Antelliq to enter the highly attractive animal monitoring space and positioned the company to become the global leader in animal intelligence solutions. Continued investment in research and development expanding into new monitoring verticals such as dairy calf, cow-calf, feedlot beef and companion animals. Leveraging access to data from c.5m cows to develop smart data solutions.
Organisation: Recruitment of new CEO who was instrumental in orienting the group vision towards animal intelligence and smart data solutions; setting up a HQ and a new organization; and rebranding of the former Allflex into Antelliq in February 2018, reflecting the successful repositioning of the company into Animal Intelligence and further increasing its visibility in the Animal Health community.
Operational Improvements: Achievement of significant operational improvements and the implementation of a new reporting system with a global cloud based consolidation tool and global cash management system.
Commercial Strategy: Development of a strong and diverse commercial and go-to-market strategy for monitoring products across various channels and partnerships, and covering all stakeholders in the ecosystem, to spur adoption and increase penetration in a nascent market.
