The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Formed as a Cargill brand after the combination of Feed Management Systems and UK company, Format International, in late 2015, Format Solutions specializes in the design, authoring and marketing of software for recipe optimization, ingredient allocation, operational efficiency and formulation for the animal and aqua feed, pet food, human food, premix industries.
Caitlin O’Donnell, head of marketing, Datacor told FeedNavigator about what appealed to the company about the Cargill business:
"Datacor strives to be the premier, go-to software provider with best-in-class and industry specific offerings for all process manufacturers and chemical distributors. This acquisition brings strong manufacturing and formulation experience with industry expertise in the animal nutrition end markets.
"Under Cargill’s leadership, Format Solutions software has become the most widely used technology in the animal nutrition and pet food sectors, responsible for the manufacturing of more tons of products around the world than any other provider."
The Format software and services span feed and food formulation, feed manufacturing and operations management. The business serves customers in nearly 100 countries with the goal being digital transformation of livestock nutrition and production.
The business operated as a separate and distinct entity within Cargill, leveraging the organizational knowledge and expertise in animal and human nutrition and mill and farm operations in the agribusiness group.
All employees affiliated with Format will continue in their respective roles following the acquisition, said the new owner.
Datacor, said O’Donnell, is committed to accelerating investment in the Format suite of products and "leveraging the team’s knowledge across all Datacor products."