PE investors inject $50m into Huaxia Dairy

The deal follows a $45 million investment in Huaxia last year by another Olympus-led group, which included European dairy producer Mueller Milch Management. Olympus put in $30 million, while Mueller Milch pledged $10 million and existing investors committed $5million.

Having contributed to $38 million in the latest round of funding, Olympus' total investment in the company now stands at $68 million.

Huaxia, established in 2004, supplies large Chinese diary companies with milk for the production of premium diary products as well as for its own brands of Wondermilk and Wonderyogurt.

So far the company has used the investment to fund capital expenditure and expansion to meet increasing customer demand, with two new farms scheduled for completion in the coming months. Huaxia is also expanding its Wondermilk gelato and yogurt stores in Beijing.

The company currently owns more than 7,000 cows, producing over 10 tons of milk per cow each year.

"With dairy consumption per capita in China still on the low side, but growing annually, the opportunity for growth in this sector continues to be significant." said Charles Shao, Huaxia's founder, in a statement. "The expanding middle class in China will continue to drive demand for high-quality milk and milk products that are safe and traceable."

The company also announced this week that dairy industry veteran George Zhang, will join the firm as CEO, effective December 18.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Industrials
• Investments
• Growth capital
• Agriculture
• China
• Olympus Capital Holdings Asia
• CMIA Capital Partners