NutriQuest, a privately held provider of agricultural products and consulting services, is seeking acquisitions in two areas: health and nutritional feed additives for production animals, and hobby farming businesses adjacent to the backyard chick market, said co-founder and CEO Steve Weiss.

Earlier this year, Mason City, Iowa-based NutriQuest engaged Feed Marketing Advisors (FMA) to help identify acquisition candidates in animal research and product development, especially producers of nutraceuticals or regulated supplements, he said. FMA is “early in the process” and is focused on domestic companies, while NutriQuest would also be interested in global acquisitions, the CEO said. NutriQuest has a VP of business development and “we are scouring the globe for new technologies.”

With more than USD 100m in revenue, NutriQuest has been a developer of feed additives for swine, poultry and dairy animals since its founding in 2007, the executive told Mergermarket. It is also the largest producer of backyard chicks in the US through its Hoover’s Hatchery division, which it acquired for undisclosed terms in 2015 and has made two add-on buys since then.

Rudd, Iowa-based Hoover’s acquired Quakertown, Pennsylvania-based Moyer’s Chicks, and Portales, New Mexico-based Privett Hatchery, both for undisclosed terms. Hoover’s offers more than 100 breeds of different bird chicks, with Tractor Supply being its largest retail outlet.

Though the business may be interested in acquiring additional hatcheries, Weiss said, Hoover’s is especially interested in complementary backyard and hobby-farm spaces, particularly in poultry. Novel poultry technologies and accessories and services would be among the areas of interest. The business is also interested in opportunities to expand its chick business internationally.

NutriQuest would likely fund acquisitions internally, but “if we were to find an opportunity bigger than we could swallow, we would consider” raising outside capital, he added.

Cap table expansion

Self-funded since its founding, NutriQuest in 2020 received an undisclosed minority investment from two funds of Lewis & Clark AgriFood. “We wanted to go further faster,” said Weiss. Piper Sandler advised NutriQuest on the deal, he noted.

In January 2023, Elanco Animal Health [NYSE:ELAN] acquired more than 30 animal nutrition products, including some under development, from NutriQuest. The transaction also included NutriQuest’s commercial sales and marketing team. Weiss noted that NutriQuest retained its R&D capabilities and will continue to develop new products.

Weiss said Elanco approached NutriQuest with interest in its technologies, and “we were excited about the opportunity with an outstanding company like Elanco and the ability to concentrate on our R&D and consulting businesses.” Going forward, NutriQuest plans to commercialize new products through sale or licensing agreements to companies with extensive sales capabilities, he said, naming Elanco and Cargill as examples.

NutriQuest has 40 employees, one-third of them engaged in R&D, said Weiss, adding that there are no current plans to sell additional assets.

Weiss will be a panelist at the ACG AgTech Conference being held 21-22 October in St. Louis.