AgriNurture eyes acquisition

MANILA, Philippines - Publicly-listed food exporter AgriNurture Inc. is poised for another acquisition in the food retail space following the sale of more than a quarter of the company to a foreign investor.

AgriNurture president Tony Tiu said the company is hoping to close a deal in the next two weeks, but declined to identify the takeover target.

Tiu said Black River Capital Partners Fund Lp., a private equity fund of US-based agribusiness and trading giant Cargill Inc., has completed the acquisition of 124.486 million shares or 28.11 percent of AgriNurture. The deal was valued at $30.45 million.

With the execution of the deal, trading in shares of AgriNurture resumes today (Jan. 3).

AgriNurture has recently been on an acquisition binge in the food retail business. It purchased a 51 percent controlling interest in The Big Chill Inc. (TBC), which sells fresh and preservative-free fruit juices and shakes under four brands.

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

The company intends to bring TBC to the international markets, particularly in China and the US. It aims to put up 1,000 stores overseas in the next five years.

Aside from this, AgriNurture entered into a master license agreement with Tully’s Coffee International Pte. Ltd. the franchising subsidiary of Seattle-based Tully’s Coffee, a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers in the US.

The food firm currently serves the fresh needs of 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.