Investcorp announces first closing of Asia food brands private equity vehicle

Bahrain: Investcorp, a leading global alternative investments manager, announced the first closing at $275 million, of its Asia food brands private equity platform, that is jointly owned and managed by Investcorp, China Resources, one of the world’s largest owners and distributors of food brands in Greater China and Fung Strategic Holdings Limited, a member of Fung Investments, the private investment arm of the families of Victor and William Fung.
The investment platform primarily focuses on capturing the growth and market opportunities in Asia’s highly fragmented food sector. Together, the partners aim to invest in the branded condiments, packaged foods and healthy snacks sectors. In the past several months, Investcorp has seen strong interest in platforms of this type given the food sector’s traditionally defensive and resilient qualities, especially in the current market landscape. With 120 million Chinese households set to become middle-class consumers over the next decade, China provides “once in a generation” surge in domestic consumption growth.
Mohammed Alardhi, Executive Chairman of Investcorp, commented, “We are encouraged by the growth factors that we see in the food brand sector in Asia, which we believe offers attractive and defensive qualities in the current environment with consumers increasingly seeking access to trusted quality food products. We appreciate the support from our existing joint venture partners as we continue to progress this attractive platform.”
Hazem Ben-Gacem, Co-CEO of Investcorp and the Chairman of the vehicle’s investment committee, said, “We believe there is strong market demand for defensive, resilient and growing investment opportunities in the current landscape. Along with our blue-chip partners in China Resources and Fung Strategic Holdings, we have deep experience in the food sector and we know the space well. We believe that investing in growing food brands in the world’s largest consumption market, and in one of the traditionally most defensive sectors, represents an attractive opportunity to enhance value for our stakeholders and communities while fulfilling a very important need in delivering quality, healthy, branded and packaged food products.”