Agri-Nurture to acquire 51% of juice maker for P20M

MANILA, Philippines - Publicly-listed food exporter Agri-Nurture Inc. (ANI) will acquire a 51 percent controlling interest in The Big Chill Inc. (TBC), a seller of fresh and preservative-free fruit juices and shakes under four brands which will then be offered to the international markets afterwards.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ANI said its board approved the execution of an agreement to acquire a total of 1,020 shares, equivalent to 51 percent of TBC, for P20 million.

TBC operates a total of 40 stores nationwide under the brands Big Chill, Fresh Bar, C’Verde and Canefusion.

Subject to terms and conditions of the agreement and the result of the diligence review, ANI shall advance to TBC the amount of P244 million for the business expansion of the latter, specifically in the number of stores and the products to be operated and carried by TBC.

ANI said the advances may be given in lump sum or in tranches as it may deem proper, provided that the entire amount must be completed on or before Dec. 31, 2011.

Within 30 days from completion of the due diligence review, ANI shall have the option to convert the entire advances into shares of stock in TBC such that after the conversion, ANI shall own 80 percent of the total issued and outstanding capital stock of TBC.

In the event that ANI decides not to convert its advances to TBC into equity in the latter, the same shall be paid by TBC within 12 months from June 30, 2012 with interest at four percent per annum.

TBC is hoping to make its presence felt in the international markets, particularly in China and the US. The goal is to build 1,000 branches overseas in the next five years.

ANI currently serves the fresh needs of the leading retail and key institutional accounts in the country, and also supplies homegrown fruits such as banana, sweet pineapple and papaya to customers in the Greater China region, Japan, Korea, and the Middle Eastern, European, and North American regions.

The company also engages in the manufacture and distribution of fruit beverages and puree, dried fruit snacks, processed fruit mix, frozen fruits and vegetables, rice products, tomato paste and fresh flowers. ANI’s family of brands now includes FCA (Fresh Choice Always) fresh and processed wellness food products, La Natural coconut juice, Nikka mango nectar and tamarind juice, SuperFresh beverage and dessert kiosks and Tully’s Coffee.

These are all made possible through the operational integration of its four major divisions: farming, production, distribution and retail and franchise.

ANI entered into a master license agreement with Tullys Coffee International Pte. Ltd. the franchising subsidiary of Seattle-based Tully’s Coffee, (a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers in the US).

In line with its vision to become a world-class supplier of high-quality fresh and processed agricultural food products, ANI recast its business structure, from adopting a purely farm-to-market trading business model into utilizing a “farm-to-plate”-based concept –supported by full forward and backward integrations.