Sanjaya Mariwala, founder, executive chairman and managing director of OmniActive, announced this week that TA Associates, has taken a significant stake in the company. As part of the transaction, whose dollar figure was not released, former partner Hiren Doshi has exited the firm.
TA Associates claims to have raised more than $33.5 billion of investment funds since its founding in 1968 and has invested in more than 500 companies. The company has offices in Boston, Menlo Park, CA, London, Hong Kong and Mumbai.
OmniActive, which has headquarters in Mumbai as well as Morristown, NJ, was one of the pioneers of the carotenoid lutein for eye health supplements with its LuteMax 2020 ingredient. The company also supplies branded ingredients based on curcumin, ginger and capsaicin as well as a host of standardized botanical extracts.
M&A opportunities on horizon
Mariwala said the new investment will help the company bolster those existing capabilities, but the company will also look to expand beyond its current range of operations.
“TA will support OmniActive financially and strategically, with the goal of taking OmniActive to the next level of profitability through continued organic growth, as well as inorganically through strategic acquisitions,” Mariwala said.
The investment comes at a pivotal time in the global dietary supplement industry, Mariwala said. The demand spikes for certain categories as a result of the pandemic have reshaped the market, providing new challenges as well as unprecedented new opportunities.
“When COVID hit, immune health became a shining star, but the long game has really boiled down to proactive self care. Consumers are looking to be healthy and stay healthy and doing so with a holistic approach, both mind and body,” he said.
Predicting the pandemic-altered global market
Mariwala said some of these new trends appear to have legs, and will persist beyond the foreseeable end of the pandemic. Investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted that as much as 70% of the world’s population will have been vaccinated by the end of 2021.
“According to the Natural Marketing Institute, 62% of US consumers surveyed during the COVID-19 crisis said they’ve become more health-conscious. During this time, NMI also points out that the number of new dietary supplement users also increased, with millennials and women showing the greatest interest,” Mariwala said.
“Probably one of the biggest opportunities is not necessarily a new one, but one that has more relevance now than in previous years, is blue light exposure from digital device use. The population depends more on their devices to stay connected—whether to work from home or participate in online school. And with talks of many companies remaining remote indefinitely even after lockdowns lift, there is a major opportunity to seize,” he added.
Weight management, eSports opportunities
A couple of additional categories will benefit from the distortions of daily life induced by frequent lockdowns, Mariwala said.
“We also believe that weight management will start trending upwards again as consumers want to overcome their struggles with the dreaded ‘Quarantine 15’ (a.k.a., the weight gain many have experienced during the pandemic due to gyms closing, a renewed interest in cooking and takeout, etc.),” he said.
“Moreover, eSports is booming—and gamers are interested in the not only the visual and cognitive performance aspects but also need solutions to address a need for sustained energy. Neilsen reported that video gaming is at an all-time high during COVID-19 and with gaming being notoriously addictive, some who were new to gaming may remain even after other entertainment opens back up,” he added.
Sports & Active Nutrition Summit 2021
Esports is one of the new topics that will be on the table for NutraIngredients-USA’s upcoming Sports & Active Nutrition Summit 2021 event. For more information, see below.
