Mühldorfer Nutrition Holding and the Dr. Clauder Group of Companies have entered into a forward-looking partnership. The objective of this cooperation is to combine their respective strengths and to sustainably and successfully achieve both companies’ growth targets in the coming years.

Mühldorfer Nutrition Holding will acquire a majority stake in the company. Through this new partnership, the two organizations complement each other perfectly: while Mühldorfer contributes its production expertise, innovative strength, and market presence, the Dr. Clauder Group brings its international reach, brand strength, and specialization in health & care solutions for the production of supplements and functional snacks. Together, the partners aim to tap into new markets, expand existing sales channels, and meet the needs of customers and trading partners with enhanced innovative capabilities.

“With the Dr. Clauder Group of Companies, we are strengthening our position with a strategic partner that will enable us to consistently pursue our long-term growth objectives, particularly in the strongly expanding health & care segment,” explains Andreas Altermann, Managing Partner and COO of Mühldorfer Nutrition Holding. “The innovative combination of our production expertise and long-standing sales partnerships, paired with Dr. Clauder’s extensive health & care know-how, is a strong statement and promise to the market.”

Managing Directors Malte Hübers and Alexander Gerards also emphasize the significance of this alliance: “We are delighted to become part of the Mühldorfer Group. For us, this partnership marks an important step toward strengthening our combined innovative strengths, expanding markets, and consistently pursuing our mission to place animal health and well-being at the center of everything we do.”

The collaboration represents an important step toward a shared, successful future in which both companies will continue to uphold their values—quality, responsibility, innovation, and the health and well-being of animals.

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About the Mühldorfer Group 

The Mühldorfer Group, headquartered in Mühldorf am Inn in Upper Bavaria, is one of Europe’s leading innovators in the fields of animal nutrition and animal health, and a strongly expanding company. With vision, dedication, and expertise, the company – founded in 1994 by Klaus Mittermeier – focuses on the development and production of optimally balanced nutritional and care products for all animals. Today, specialized feeds for horses, pet food for dogs and cats, as well as pharmaceutical and care products and premium and organic items for livestock, agriculture, and hobby farming are produced at eleven modern development and production sites in Germany, Austria, and Spain, and distributed worldwide. The company’s core competency lies particularly in the customized development of ideas, products, and services – tailored and sustainable solutions designed to meet the specific needs of each customer. 

About Dr. Clauder 

The Dr. Clauder Group of Companies is a long-established, internationally oriented business based in the Lower Rhine region. Its portfolio includes the production of supplements and snacks for dogs and cats, as well as high-quality pet food. Health & Care forms the foundation of the company’s philosophy: all products are designed to promote the health and well-being of animals. With this clear commitment to quality and responsibility, Dr. Clauder has earned a strong reputation worldwide. 

Regional roots, strong heritage, and a future-oriented vision: advancing a modern family business and expanding the value chain in feed production.

Effective October 1, 2025, Mühldorfer Nutrition Holding (hereinafter “Mühldorfer Group”), one of the leading manufacturers of high-quality feed and pet food, has acquired 100% of the shares of Vilstalmühle GmbH & Co. KG in Vilsbiburg. With this acquisition, the Mühldorfer Group ensures the continuation of one of Germany’s oldest operating production sites while simultaneously strengthening its expertise in the development and manufacturing of specialized feed for various animal species.

Vilstalmühle looks back on an 800-year history and is among the oldest continuously operating companies in Germany. For nearly 200 years, the business has been run by the Franz Balk family. Under their leadership, the mill evolved into a modern, high-performing medium-sized enterprise featuring state-of-the-art, highly automated facilities and an excellent reputation. Due to succession considerations, the Balk family decided to transfer Vilstalmühle to the Mühldorfer Group. By choosing a regionally rooted company as the buyer, they intentionally opted for a solution that secures the long-term future of the business.

Franz Balk, former owner and Managing Director of Vilstalmühle, commented: “Preserving the tradition and the deep connection of our company to the region was extremely important to me. Above all, I wanted to ensure a stable and reliable succession for our long-standing employees and, especially, for our customers. I am very pleased to have found the ideal partner in Mühldorfer.”

For the Mühldorfer Group, this transaction marks the fourth acquisition in 2025 within the framework of its Buy, Build & Technologize strategy and represents a strategic step with multiple objectives. First, it significantly extends the company’s value chain. Going forward, Mühldorfer will produce an even greater share of its products within its own facilities, further enhancing cost efficiency, quality assurance, and innovation capabilities. Second, the Mühldorfer Group is structured into three business units: Horse & Farming, Petfood, and Health & Care. Vilstalmühle will be integrated into the Horse & Farming unit, where it will contribute to strengthening this division. Finally, maintaining the Vilsbiburg site – including safeguarding all employees, customer relationships, and supplier partnerships – remains a central priority.

Klaus Mittermeier, CEO & Founder of the Mühldorfer Group, emphasizes: “Vilstalmühle is a true benchmark company in the feed industry – a healthy, mid-sized business with strong traditions, deep expertise, and excellent employees. We are proud to carry this legacy forward and to shape the future of the site together with the workforce. In the coming months, we plan targeted investments to further develop the location in a sustainable way that meets the evolving needs of our customers.”

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About the Mühldorfer Group 

The Mühldorfer Group, headquartered in Mühldorf am Inn in Upper Bavaria, is one of Europe’s leading innovators in the fields of animal nutrition and animal health, and a strongly expanding company. With vision, dedication, and expertise, the company – founded in 1994 by Klaus Mittermeier – focuses on the development and production of optimally balanced nutritional and care products for all animals. Today, specialized feeds for horses, pet food for dogs and cats, as well as pharmaceutical and care products and premium and organic items for livestock, agriculture, and hobby farming are produced at eleven modern development and production sites in Germany, Austria, and Spain, and distributed worldwide. The company’s core competency lies particularly in the customized development of ideas, products, and services – tailored and sustainable solutions designed to meet the specific needs of each customer. 

About Vilstalmühle  

Vilstalmühle looks back on an 800-year history and is therefore among the oldest companies in Germany that have operated continuously at the same location. Today, the mill is a modern, high-performing medium-sized enterprise with highly automated production and an excellent reputation, where premium feed products are manufactured on fully electronically controlled systems. 

As the first step in its planned international expansion, Mühldorfer Nutrition Holding has acquired 100% of the Spanish animal nutrition and health care group Greenfarm through a share deal.

With the acquisition of Grupo Omega, based in Madrid, Mühldorfer gains a market-leading manufacturer of vitamin-mineral premixes and professional feed blends for both livestock and companion animals. Within the framework of the company’s Buy, Build & Technologize strategy, Grupo Omega perfectly complements the capabilities of Mühldorfer Nutrition Holding.

Omega operates highly automated production systems that ensure maximum precision in ingredient dosing throughout the entire manufacturing process. This enables the company to deliver premium production quality as well as customized and sustainable nutritional solutions for its international customer base.

With the addition of PROVESA SL, located in Murcia, Mühldorfer Nutrition Holding now also incorporates one of the leading sales and logistics organizations for animal health and hygiene on the Iberian Peninsula. Leveraging PROVESA’s customer relationships, established over several decades, Mühldorfer intends to gradually introduce its own product portfolio into the rapidly growing Spanish market.

With this acquisition, Mühldorfer Nutrition Holding takes a significant next step in its internationalization efforts and strengthens its presence in the pan-European markets—particularly in the steadily expanding Spanish animal nutrition sector. The takeover of the Greenfarm Group companies, which have long been successful in their domestic markets as well as internationally, marks another strategic milestone on Mühldorfer’s path toward becoming a fully integrated animal nutrition group and an innovation leader in the health care sector for both companion and farm animals.

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About the Mühldorfer Group 

The Mühldorfer Group, headquartered in Mühldorf am Inn in Upper Bavaria, is one of Europe’s leading innovators in the fields of animal nutrition and animal health, and a strongly expanding company. With vision, dedication, and expertise, the company – founded in 1994 by Klaus Mittermeier – focuses on the development and production of optimally balanced nutritional and care products for all animals. Today, specialized feeds for horses, pet food for dogs and cats, as well as pharmaceutical and care products and premium and organic items for livestock, agriculture, and hobby farming are produced at eleven modern development and production sites in Germany, Austria, and Spain, and distributed worldwide. The company’s core competency lies particularly in the customized development of ideas, products, and services – tailored and sustainable solutions designed to meet the specific needs of each customer. 

About Grupo Omega

Since 1995, Grupo Omega has stood for profound expertise in the optimization of animal nutrition. The company supports its customers in identifying and ensuring the maximum profitability of their operations. As a result, Grupo Omega is considered a benchmark in knowledge and innovation across all areas of animal nutrition—operating in a constantly evolving market where the challenge lies in sustainably optimizing animal production through its products. Today, Grupo Omega de Nutrición Animal is active throughout Spain and has expanded its operations to numerous countries, particularly within the EU, as well as in Africa and the Middle East.

About PROVESA
Founded in 1977 in Murcia, Provesa SL is excellently positioned for the distribution of animal health products. Since its establishment, Provesa has been dedicated to this mission and has been deeply committed to improving the health and hygiene of both livestock and companion animals. Highly qualified and always up to date with the latest developments and technologies, Provesa provides support and guidance to livestock producers, feed mills, and veterinary clinics. The employees of Provesa are a cornerstone of the company. Continuous professional development is a central focus, ensuring that all customers receive the highest level of service. Provesa’s service portfolio also includes feed optimization and comprehensive animal health solutions through additional offerings such as veterinary consulting, legal advice, information and training courses, technical services, and veterinary support—often in collaboration with veterinary diagnostic laboratories.

More and more horses suffer from challenging imbalances in their sensitive gastrointestinal system, metabolic disorders, and other lifestyle-related diseases. The consequences often include watery stool, gastric ulcers, Equine Cushing’s Syndrome, allergies, and more.
We are therefore delighted to introduce SPEED CLINIC, a new product range designed to support horses experiencing a wide variety of health issues through tailored nutritional solutions. These formulations not only help alleviate symptoms but, more importantly, contribute to sustainably addressing the underlying causes of the problems.

• Product range developed from Mühldorfer research
• Holistic approach: addresses the root causes rather than just the symptoms
• With prebiotics to support a healthy intestinal microflora
• Developed in collaboration with scientists and veterinary specialists

With this expansion of our SPEED brand, we are making an important contribution to equine health and offering innovative nutritional solutions for the equestrian retail trade, horse owners, veterinarians, and equestrian facilities.

Learn more about the brand: www.speed-horse.care

Mühldorfer GmbH, part of Mühldorfer Nutrition Holding GmbH, is expanding its Horse & Farming division through the acquisition of wild bird feed producer GEVO.

As part of a share deal, Mühldorfer has acquired 100% of GEVO GmbH, a specialist in wild bird feed based in Leer, East Frisia. Following a long-standing, trustworthy partnership, the founding Schierhold family chose the Mühldorfer Group as the ideal succession and acquisition partner.

Klaus Mittermeier, CEO and Founder of Mühldorfer, explains the strategic rationale behind the acquisition: “We plan to develop GEVO into a leading European provider of wild bird feed. The highly modern and scalable production site, along with all its employees, will not only be retained – we intend to make substantial investments in the Leer location, both technologically and in terms of personnel. Our goal is to build a dedicated competence center for wild bird feed, especially for our existing white-label customers. Moreover, with the well-established premium brand GEVO Wild Bird Feed, we have a true ‘gem’ in our hands – one that will make us a reliable, customer-focused partner for both specialist and retail markets.”

Gerd Schierhold, Founder and Shareholder of GEVO, adds: “The future vision of the Mühldorfer Group, combined with its entrepreneurial, hands-on approach, aligns perfectly with the philosophy of the company I built. With their vision, Mühldorfer will turn GEVO into a hidden champion in the wild bird feed sector.”

Andreas Altermann, COO of Mühldorfer, highlights the strategic significance of the acquisition: “Within our Buy, Build & Technologize strategy, GEVO significantly strengthens our Horse & Farming business as an excellent production site. As a producer of wild bird feed – particularly with the state-of-the-art fat ball (Meisenknödel) production line – we can now ensure year-round supply chain reliability for our customers.”

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About the Mühldorfer Group 

The Mühldorfer Group, headquartered in Mühldorf am Inn in Upper Bavaria, is one of Europe’s leading innovators in the fields of animal nutrition and animal health, and a strongly expanding company. With vision, dedication, and expertise, the company – founded in 1994 by Klaus Mittermeier – focuses on the development and production of optimally balanced nutritional and care products for all animals. Today, specialized feeds for horses, pet food for dogs and cats, as well as pharmaceutical and care products and premium and organic items for livestock, agriculture, and hobby farming are produced at eleven modern development and production sites in Germany, Austria, and Spain, and distributed worldwide. The company’s core competency lies particularly in the customized development of ideas, products, and services – tailored and sustainable solutions designed to meet the specific needs of each customer.

About GEVO GmbH

For more than 35 years, GEVO has been producing a comprehensive range of premium pet food and wild bird feed for year-round feeding at its site in Leer, East Frisia. Particular emphasis is placed on species-appropriate and well-balanced product formulations. Gentle and precise packaging of all weight categories is ensured by a highly efficient machinery setup. With a modern fat ball (suet ball) production line, GEVO meets the strong and growing demand for this specialized type of feed at an exceptionally high level.

The 2024 Pet Brand of the Year, BeG Buddy, now operates under the umbrella of the Mühldorfer Group. With the acquisition of BeG Buddy GmbH, Mühldorfer takes another significant growth step and adds a young, dynamic brand to its private label portfolio—one that will substantially strengthen the company’s Pet business segment.

As part of its growth strategy, the Mühldorfer Group has acquired 100% of the shares of BeG Buddy GmbH through a share deal, thereby integrating the brand fully into its portfolio. In addition to ensuring supply capability – even for large-scale retail partners – Mühldorfer will continue investing in the further development of the brand and its product range.

To reinforce and expand the Pet business unit, Mühldorfer has secured a multi-award-winning feel-good brand that is perfectly aligned with contemporary consumer trends. With its clear focus on healthy nutrition for dogs and cats, as well as transparency and sustainability, BeG Buddy embodies core values that also lie at the heart of the Mühldorfer Group.

The product range of the 2024 Pet Brand of the Year includes innovative highlights such as healthy ice cream for dogs, sustainable dry food made with insect protein, and a variety of care products. Mühldorfer will continue to advance and expand the assortment and integrate it with its own sustainability product line, which is already underway.

Julia Braun, founder of BeG Buddy, comments: “With joy and full confidence, we hand over BeG Buddy to the innovative team at the Mühldorfer Group. We are certain that the brand will continue its successful path and grow even further under their leadership.”

Andreas Altermann, Board Member/COO of Mühldorfer, adds: “BeG Buddy is a statement for the young ‘feel-good’ market and represents an important opportunity for us to serve a rapidly growing market segment even more effectively.”

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About the Mühldorfer Group 

The Mühldorfer Group, headquartered in Mühldorf am Inn in Upper Bavaria, is one of Europe’s leading innovators in the fields of animal nutrition and animal health, and a strongly expanding company. With vision, dedication, and expertise, the company – founded in 1994 by Klaus Mittermeier – focuses on the development and production of optimally balanced nutritional and care products for all animals. Today, specialized feeds for horses, pet food for dogs and cats, as well as pharmaceutical and care products and premium and organic items for livestock, agriculture, and hobby farming are produced at eleven modern development and production sites in Germany, Austria, and Spain, and distributed worldwide. The company’s core competency lies particularly in the customized development of ideas, products, and services – tailored and sustainable solutions designed to meet the specific needs of each customer.

About BeG Buddy

BeG Buddy is a modern, trend-driven brand with a strong commitment to the health of dogs and cats. Within just a few years, the feel-good brand has earned its place among Germany’s leading pet brands. BeG Buddy’s sustainable dry food made with insect protein achieved an excellent rating in the Stiftung Warentest test results and was awarded the “very good” seal by consumers. With its philosophy, this young “happy brand” is fully in tune with the times – focusing on healthy nutrition for dogs and cats, transparency, and sustainability. These are values increasingly embraced by responsible pet owners today.