Agri-Vie Fund II

Equity : January 2017

Agri-Vie Fund II is a specialized food & agribusiness investment fund active in Sub-Sahara Africa.

Amount

€ 6,552,700.00

Type of investment

Equity

Development impacts

Local economic growth
Private sector consolidation/innovation
Food security & rural development
Promotion of ESG best practices

Beneficiary locations

Sub-Saharan Africa: Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

Investment field

Investment Companies & Funds

Activity

SME Fund

Organisation

Agri-Vie Fund II

Website

http://agrivie.com/

Domicile

Mauritius

Agri-Vie Fund II is a successor fund to Agri-Vie I, a 2008 vintage, specialized food & agribusiness investment fund active in Sub-Sahara Africa. Agri-Vie Fund II will continue the same investment strategy as its predecessor fund, orienting itself to providing growth equity through influential minority positions in mid-size companies in selected subsectors in food and agribusiness. The targeted size is US$ 175 mn.

Focus

Agri-Vie focuses on geographies and sector segments that were selected based on top down research and the team’s experience with Agri-Vie I. Out of the 48 countries in the region, the fund manager favours countries with a high growth, stable political environment and underserved consumer markets. As a consequence, the fund manager aims to invest up to 25% in South Africa and expects that next to this, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia will be the most important invested countries.

Development impacts

Local economic growth
The Fund will provide equity finance to SMEs to finance expansion and productivity improvements.
Private sector consolidation/innovation
Despite growing interest in East & Southern Africa as an investment destination (PE), the current penetration of PE is still very low in the region, about one tenth of that in developed countries.
Food security & rural development
The Fund invests in the food & agribusiness sector of the region, a sector that informally and formally employs more than 60% of the labour force, while food represents 60% of house hold expenditure in the region. Hence employment generation, rural development, food security and consumer choice all benefit form the Fund's investments.
Promotion of ESG best practices
All investees are required to sign up th AV's ESG and impact protocol which commits the company and its management to the sustainability and social vision and policies of the fund. This includes a commitment to the internationally recognized social & environmental performance standards.

Made possible through this investment

Thanks to the direct funding from BIO, the following second-line investments have been made possible.

Dew Crisp

South Africa

Dew Crisp, established in 1987, is the market leader in convenience leaf salads in SA and has a leading market share amongst the big four national retailers as well as in the fast food trade.

Fairfield Dairies

South Africa

Fairfield Dairies (Pty) Ltd, established in 1991 in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province of South Africa is a privately owned dairy, supplying house-branded products to national retailers.

Hygrotech

South Africa

Hygrotech, established in 1984 with a track record of over 30 years in its field, is the market leader in vegetable seed marketing and distribution in South Africa, offering a “one stop” service to more than 4,000 clients throughout South Africa.

Asilia

Kenya, Tanzania

Asilia is a 12-year old ecotourism business operating in the high end market segment.

HIK Abalone Farm

South Africa

HIK was established in 1998 as an abalone farm situated in the Southern African coastal town of Hermanus. Since then the company has grown its standing stock of biological abalone and exports increasing abalone per year to the Far East.

Intelichem

South Africa

The Intelichem Group of companies is a provider of crop solutions to the agricultural industry and related peripherals through its subsidiaries InteliGro, InteliSoil, InteliSeed, InteliFert and Itelekt and is the national market leader.

Kariki Group

Kenya

The Kariki Group of Companies was started in 2002 on the slopes of Mt Kenya. Subsequent expansions have led to the development of three additional farms in the Juja, Naivasha and Molo areas. The company is a niche supplier of selected “summer flower” cultivars (Hypericum, Eryngium, Solidago) and has expanded its offering into carnations.

Cape Olive

South Africa

Cape Olive, established in the 1960s, is the market leader in table olives in South Africa, supplying mainly into the retail sector, but also to certain food service suppliers.

Mtanga Foods

Tanzania

Established in 2004, Mtanga Foods is a vertically integrated meat business supplying the growing demand for quality meat products in Dar Es Salaam and other selected Tanzanian markets.