Agriculture
Omnivore has sunny outlook for SkyMet
With around two-thirds of India's 1.2 billion-strong population reliant on farming for a livelihood the importance of the monsoon season to the economy cannot be overstated. A weak monsoon can cut exports, drive food price inflation and ultimately cause...
China pork giant WH Group gains 10.6% on HK debut
Shares in WH Group, the Chinese pork producer backed by investors such as CDH Investments and Goldman Sachs, gained as much as 10.6% on its first day trading today after the company raised HK$15.3 billion ($2 billion) on its second attempted IPO.
China's Le Gaga agrees Sequoia-backed take-private
Chinese greenhouse vegetable producer Le Gaga has agreed to be taken private by a consortium including Sequoia Capital, hedge fund Yiheng Capital and the NASDAQ-listed company's chairman and CEO. The deal values the company at around $185 million.
China logisitcs: Cool customers
Private equity investors see chilled supply chains as a proxy for the greater value Chinese consumers place on food safety and quality. However, for now the industry is still more niche than mass market
WH Group sets terms for HK IPO to raise $2b
WH Group, the Chinese pork producer backed by investors such as CDH Investments and Goldman Sachs, has set terms for a revised Hong Kong IPO that will raise up to HK$15.9 billion ($2.05 billion).
VC firm launches $13.6m Anglo-Japanese agri fund
Japanese venture capital firm Tsukuba Technology Seed (TTS) has teamed up with the UK's Adapt Low Carbon Group to launch an Anglo-Japanese VC fund focusing on agricultural innovation.
GIC, Olympus lead Series D round in China premium dairy play
Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Private and Olympus Capital Asia have led a $106 million Series D round of investment in China's Huaxia Dairy in a bid to tap in the country's fast-growing premium dairy segment.
Fidelity leads Series C for India's Milk Mantra
Fidelity Growth Partners India has led an INR800 million ($13.3 million) Series C round of investment in Milk Mantra Dairy.
PE-backed China Shengmu Organic Milk launches $169m HK IPO
China Shengmu Organic Milk, an organic dairy maker backed by several PE investors, is targeting HK$1.31 billion ($169 million) through an IPO in Hong Kong.
China’s CIC to focus on food
China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country’s $650 billion sovereign wealth fund, wants to partner with governments, multilateral organizations and like-minded institutions to invest in agriculture assets.
Carlyle-backed China Forestry set for restructuring
China Forestry Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed timber company whose investors include The Carlyle Group, plans to negotiate a debt restructuring with creditors after defaulting on $180 million in senior notes.
The food thesis
Food has and continues to be one of the more compelling investment theses for private equity in China. The first phase of the consumer story was leveraging the emergence of discretionary consumption - households with sufficient income to choose one brand...
MSPEA wins approval for Yongye take-private
A take-private bid for Chinese nutrients company Yongye International, supported by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA), has won shareholder approval. The NASDAQ-listed firm is now set to de-list.
Yunfeng, CITIC PE seal $320m China dairy investment
Yunfeng Capital and CITIC Private Equity have agreed to invest at least RMB2 billion ($320.5 million) in an unlisted farming subsidiary of Chinese dairy producer Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group.
Australian agriculture: Mean fields?
The Australasian agricultural space is increasingly interesting to LPs that want an inflation hedge and a proxy to rising demand for quality food in emerging Asia, but local superannuation funds are slow to bite
China encourages PE to provide rural financing
China is encouraging private equity and venture capital firms to participate in rural financing, as a means of supporting rural development and lifting the economy.
PE-backed consortium ups privatization bid for China's Yongye
A consortium supported by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA) has modified its take-private bid for Chinese nutrients company Yongye International, sweetening the deal in return for a lower shareholder approval threshold for it to go through.
Temasek invests $40m in India's StarAgri
Temasek Holdings has invested INR2.5 billion ($40 million) in Indian agri-services provider Star Agriwarehousing and Collateral Management.
Hopu supports $1.5b Noble Agri deal, reaches first close on Fund II
A consortium led by Hopu Investments will take a minority position in an agribusiness joint venture being set up by Chinese agricultural conglomerate COFCO Corporation and Noble Group, an agriculture and energy supply chain manager.
Accel India, Horizen Ventures back tea commerce start-up
Accel Partners India and Horizen Ventures have together invested $1 million in Teabox, a start-up that operates out of Singapore and Bangalore.
Temasek tables $2.1b bid for full ownership of Olam
A consortium led by Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings has offered to pay $2.1 billion to take full ownership of agricultural commodity trading conglomerate Olam International. The consortium already owns a 52.5% stake in the firm.
Shareholders reject MSPEA-backed Yongye privatization
Shareholders have rejected a $339 million offer - supported by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA) - to take US-listed Chinese animal and plant feed maker Yongye International private.
Adveq buys into Australia’s king of crops
The term "real assets" doesn't generally conjure up images of almonds. And these assets aren’t widely available. California, Spain and Australia account for around 80% of a global almond market set to be worth $5 billion in 2013.
