Netherlands-based animal nutrition major Provimi has announced a slew of initiatives to maximize growth from Latin America and Asia which are viewed to be markets of the future.

Provimi Animal Nutrition India Pvt Ltd, which is now a 100 percent take over company, has gone in for a corporate restructuring to create three dedicated divisions: 'Vetcare' for animal health, 'Provimi' for animal nutrition and 'Citura' for trading. The company has also chalked out an inorganic growth plan where it will look at acquiring mid and large sized animal health companies.

"We are upbeat on the opportunities in Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Columbia) and Asia. One of the key focus areas will be to supply medicated feed additive feed 'Halquinol' to these markets. In order to further expand our presence and capability, we are scouting for buyouts for which Euros 100 million has been set-aside," Gijs Scholman, Group vice-president of Provimi said at a press conclave.

Provimi manufactures products and supplies technical support for all species, including ruminants, poultry, swine and pets. The nutrition and health range includes premixes, specialties, complete feed and pet food which protect the immune system, vitalize the muscles and fortify bones, protect skin of animals. There is also an increased global research effort under the Feed Solutions initiative where we would look at local innovation to develop products. As part of this global strategy, the focus would be on poultry which is currently the fastest growing segment worldwide, he added.

According to Dr Sandeep Karkhanis, MD & CEO of Provimi India, while consolidating our expertise on the animal healthcare front, we will provide additional focus on animal nutrition. From India, we will gear up to develop three to five products in this space. With modern manufacturing plants for animal care products, India is being sought-after for contract manufacture. The economies of scale and expertise will drive this business, said Dr Karkhanis.

The size of the Indian animal healthcare market is estimated at Rs 2,000 crore and animal nutrition is around Rs 4,000 crore.

A visible trend today is the pharma companies which had animal health portfolios have now sold off this business. Some of these deals in 2009 include Wockhardt divesting its animal health division to Vétoquinol, France, an independent veterinary pharmaceutical laboratory. Pfizer Animal Health was formed after acquisition of Wyeth, and its subsidiary Fort Dodge Animal Health. RFCL's Animal Healthcare business under Vetnex was sold to Pfizer. Early this year, VetCentric, Inc a US-based largest veterinary therapeutic company announced a partnership with Pfizer Animal Health.

The key reason for such sell-offs is the decreased focus by pharma majors for the development of dedicated animal drug molecules, said Scholman.