Houlihan Lokey Advises Frulact

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Frulact, a portfolio company of Ardian, has been acquired by Nexture, a portfolio company of Investindustrial. The transaction closed in March 2026.

Headquartered in Porto, Portugal, Frulact is a natural ingredient solutions platform that manufactures a broad range of products, including food systems, specialized liquid flavours, and plant-based specialty ingredients for dairy, desserts, and beverage applications. Frulact products are sold in more than 50 countries, generating approximately €265 million in revenue for the 12-month period ended September 30, 2025. Frulact employs more than 850 people and operates across 11 facilities in Europe, Africa, and North America. Frulact was acquired by Ardian in May 2020 and has since then expanded significantly through a combination of organic growth and strategic M&A (including two acquisitions), to become a Top 3 player in the food system solutions market with a transatlantic presence.

Ardian is a global private investment firm, managing approximately $200 billion of assets on behalf of institutional investors, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance companies. Headquartered in Paris with offices across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East, Ardian invests across private equity, infrastructure, real assets, and private credit.

Nexture is a global manufacturer of value-added food ingredients and solutions serving customers across the bakery, confectionery, dairy, and foodservice sectors. Headquartered in Milan, the group was created in 2025 through the combination of the CSM Ingredients and Italcanditi platforms, both owned by Investindustrial. Nexture operates internationally with a global manufacturing and commercial footprint, including production facilities and innovation centres across Europe, North America, and Asia, serving customers in more than 100 countries.

Investindustrial is a European private equity firm focused on investing in middle-market companies. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in London, the firm focuses on investments across the consumer, healthcare, industrial, and services sectors. Investindustrial has invested more than €15 billion since its inception.

Houlihan Lokey served as co-financial advisor to Frulact. This deal represents another successful transaction for Houlihan Lokey in the specialty ingredients space, and further strengthens Houlihan Lokey’s established presence advising Iberian middle-market consumer companies.

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