Background: Made Group is the Australian food and drinks company behind some of the biggest health-food brands on our supermarket shelves. Back in 2005, it launched one of Australia's early vitamin water products long before functional beverages became mainstream. Today, Made Group owns brands like Cocobella coconut water, Rokeby protein shakes, Impressed juices and Nutrient Water.

What happened: Over the years, Made Group has gone through multiple capital raises and ownership changes. In 2018, The Coca-Cola Company acquired a 45% stake, before TPG Capital bought a 60% stake in 2021, valuing the business at around $300 - $350 million. And get this: TPG and the founders have now sold Made Group to Danone for nearly $2 billion.  That's five times their investment - in just five years.

What else: Danone's fastest-growing region is already Asia-Pacific, with sales up 6% to €1.5 billion in Q1 alone. So, this acquisition helps turbocharge exactly where Danone in the exact region where it wants to grow.

What's the key learning?

💡The world's biggest food and drink companies are on a health brand shopping spree. And health-focused food and beverage brands have become prime takeover targets... with global food M&A deal values rising 16.3% to $61.5 billion in 2025.    

💡 Buying an existing brand is much easier than starting from scratch. Building a trusted health brand can take years...and cost a fortune. That's why major players increasingly prefer acquiring brands that have already proven product-market fit and consumer loyalty.

💡 Acquisitions give big companies instant access to trust, customers, and distribution. Think:

• The Coca-Cola Company paying $5.6 billion for the remaining stake in BodyArmor
• Nestle Health Science buying into Vital Proteins

For the Made Group brands, the brand trust is already there ... all Danone has to do is try not to ruin it.