Pencarrow invests New Zealand yogurt maker

Pencarrow is currently investing its fifth fund, which closed oversubscribed last month at NZ$250 million ($176 million) with a view to backing companies worth NZ$20-100 million. The company is expected to use the fresh capital to expand its existing UK footprint across Europe. 

Founded in 2010, The Collective produces a range of flavored yogurts, including Greek-style varieties, pourable bottles and squeezable drinking yogurt bags marketed to children. It also produces haloumi cheese. The company has claimed revenue of more than NZ$100 million in the last financial year and is planning to grow this figure by 35% during the next four years.

"We were impressed with how the brand has turned a declined category into one of immense innovation and excitement,” Rod Gethen, a managing partner at Pencarrow, told local media. “We're particularly pleased with the company's growth over a short period of time and we look forward to supporting the business with our strategy expertise as we work to build the global brand."

Pencarrow aims to leverage a relative lack of deal competition among local companies with enterprise valuations of less than NZ$100 million and build them up into a more liquid and international market. It claims to have invested more than NZ$400 million in more than 30 companies since 1993.

Recent activity includes an exit of its stake in sport clothing brand Icebreaker to US competitor VF Corporation and the sale of a 100% stake in tea and coffee company BrewGroup to Netherlands-based Jacobs Douwe Egberts. AVCJ understands the GP’s latest fund has also invested a software company.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Consumer
• Expansion
• New Zealand
• Pencarrow Private Equity
• Growth capital