For deal sourcers, staying current on private company activity is critical to spotting active buyers, tracking market trends, and uncovering emerging investment opportunities ahead of competitors.
In May alone, we added more than 1,400 new private company transactions, bringing the total to over 24,000 searchable deals across sectors, industries, and transaction types in Dakota Marketplace.
Inside Dakota Marketplace, you’ll find the transactions tab that provides structured, filterable data on deal types, values, and dates, while our editorial team curates daily updates through the Dakota transactions newsletter, helping you cut through the noise and focus on what matters most.
To ensure the most comprehensive coverage of private market activity, Dakota monitors over 10,000 websites including company websites, newswires, and numerous third-party news providers to capture and verify transaction data as it happens.
Below are the top 10 consumer staple transactions.
- Transaction Date: 5/4/2026
- Industry: Food Products
- Type: Acquisition / Merger
- Transaction Value: $286M
Campbell's completed its acquisition of a 49% stake in La Regina, the Italian manufacturer behind all of Rao's Homemade tomato-based pasta sauces, deepening its strategic partnership with the Romano family to protect the brand's artisanal production process. The deal comes as Rao's Homemade surpasses $1 billion in trailing 12-month net sales, making it Campbell's fourth billion-dollar brand alongside Campbell's, Goldfish, and Pepperidge Farm.
- Transaction Date: 5/5/2026
- Industry: Food Products
- Type: Acquisition / Merger
- Transaction Value: $162M
AEP Plantations acquired a 98.3% stake in Indonesian palm oil producer PT Pinago Utama for approximately $162 million in cash, gaining 15,400 hectares of planted oil palm and integrated processing facilities in South Sumatra that will immediately boost AEP's planted area by 23% and crude palm oil production by 25%. Pinago's sub-12-year average tree age and $18 million net profit in 2025 make it an immediately earnings-accretive brownfield addition to AEP's existing Indonesia and Malaysia portfolio.
- Transaction Date: 5/19/2026
- Industry: Food Products
- Type: Growth Equity
- Transaction Value: $150M
Advent International invested $150 million for a significant minority stake in Iscon Balaji Foods, a Gujarat-based manufacturer and exporter of frozen potato products including French fries and hash browns, as part of a $215 million Series A round that also includes 360 ONE. The capital will help accelerate IBF's international expansion and fund a new state-of-the-art processing facility, building on the company's established supply relationships with quick-service restaurants across Asia, the Middle East, and Australia.
- Transaction Date: 5/13/2026
- Industry: Food Products
- Type: Venture
- Transaction Value: $150M
Oishii, operator of the world's largest indoor vertical strawberry farm, raised $150 million in a Series C first closing led by SPARX Asset Management, bringing total funding to $370 million since its 2016 founding. The capital will fund production capacity expansion, robotics integration, and a new Open Innovation Center in Tokyo as Oishii scales its pesticide-free, year-round strawberry model across 18 U.S. states and its first international retail market in Toronto.
- Transaction Date: 5/13/2026
- Industry: Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail
- Type: Growth Equity
- Transaction Value: $117.4M
Waterdrop, the Vienna-based functional hydration brand behind the Microdrink cube, raised over €100 million from Aspeya, Atlantic Grupa, and alpine ski champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, marking its largest capital raise in its ten-year history. The profitable company — generating ~€150 million in revenue across 5 million+ online customers and 20,000+ retail outlets globally — will deploy the capital to deepen European retail expansion, build out local teams, and accelerate product innovation.
- Transaction Date: 5/8/2026
- Industry: Tobacco
- Type: Growth Equity
- Transaction Value: $100M
Capital Group disclosed a 5.61% stake in South Korean tobacco manufacturer KT&G, joining BlackRock, First Eagle, and GIC as major foreign shareholders amid 19 consecutive sessions of net foreign buying that pushed the stock to an all-time high in the 180,000-won range. The buying interest coincides with strong Q1 results — revenue up 14.3% and operating profit up 27.6% year-over-year — driven by KT&G's accelerating international cigarette business.
- Transaction Date: 5/4/2026
- Industry: Food Products
- Type: Growth Equity
- Transaction Value: $50.8M
Indian value-added dairy company Milky Mist raised approximately ₹482 crore (~$58 million) in a Temasek-led pre-IPO round, comprising ₹350 crore in primary capital and ₹120 crore in secondary share sales from promoters. The investment comes ahead of a SEBI-approved ₹2,035 crore IPO as Milky Mist posted ~₹3,275 crore in FY26 revenue, driven by strong growth across ice cream, paneer, cheese, and emerging protein categories.
- Transaction Date: 5/19/2026
- Industry: Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail
- Type: Venture
- Transaction Value: $33M
BRAMI raised $33 million in a Series B led by VMG Partners to scale its Italian protein pasta brand, which has been the fastest-growing national pasta brand in America for three consecutive years and is now available in 4,000+ stores including Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods. The funding will expand manufacturing capacity and supply chain infrastructure as BRAMI continues to build on 58% year-over-year velocity growth driven by its two-ingredient formula of durum wheat semolina and lupini bean flour.
- Transaction Date: 5/4/2026
- Industry: Food Products
- Type: Growth Equity
- Transaction Value: $19M
Indian specialty coffee chain Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters raised ₹175 crore (~$19 million) in a Series D extension led by Anicut Capital, valuing the company at approximately $235 million post-money and bringing total funding to over $130 million. The capital supports Blue Tokai's expansion beyond its 175+ Indian cafes into international markets including Dubai and Japan, building on 50% revenue growth in FY25 to ₹325 crore.
- Transaction Date: 5/7/2026
- Industry: Food Products
- Type: Venture
- Transaction Value: $14.1M
Meatly, Europe's first company to sell cultivated meat, raised £10.4 million in a Series A led by Oyster Bay Venture Capital, Clean Growth Fund, and JamJar Investments to build a 20,000-litre bioreactor facility in London — the largest cultivated meat production facility in Europe. The funding brings total raised to £17.4 million and follows the company's landmark cost reductions in culture medium and bioreactor production, with commercial product releases from the new facility expected in 2027.
At Dakota, we understand how important it is to stay current on deal activity as it happens. That’s why our editorial team continuously monitors the news for real-time updates on platform investments, add-ons, divestitures, and more to deliver daily highlights straight to your inbox through our transactions newsletter.
Inside Dakota Marketplace, the transactions tab provides structured, filterable data with deal dates, types, sectors, and financials, allowing you to build a customized feed that aligns with your focus areas.
Whether you're evaluating a new investment opportunity or tracking trends within a target sector, Dakota Marketplace helps you cut through the noise and focus on what matters most.
For more information on these transactions and a deeper dive into their industries and sub-industries, book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
