Food Union Group receives $225m investment

By Jim Cornall

- Last updated on GMT

Dairy and ice cream producers Food Union Group will have two operational plants in China in 2018. Pic: ©iStock/CharlieAJA
Dairy and ice cream producers Food Union Group will have two operational plants in China in 2018. Pic: ©iStock/CharlieAJA

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Latvia-based Food Union Group, an international group of dairy and ice cream producing companies in Northern Europe, has received a combined $225m investment from Asian private equity firm PAG, and Meridian Capital, an existing investor.

The investment - $170m from PAG and $55m from Meridian Capital – will support the expansion of Food Union with a specific focus on China, where Food Union is nearing completion of two dairy plants.

Andrey Beskhmelnitsky, global CEO and founder of Food Union Group, said the two Chinese plants should be operational at the beginning of 2018. He added the company has also acquired two ice cream companies in Norway (Isbjorn Is) and Romania (Alpin57Lux)​.

Food Union Group also has operations in Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Russia and Belarus, and is the largest ice cream manufacturer in the Baltics and Denmark. It exports to more than 25 countries and employs more than 2,500 people.

PAG confident in Food Union Group

PAG, one of Asia’s largest alternative investment firms with capital under management in excess of $16bn, employs more than 380 staff in nine offices across the region. Since its founding in 2002, PAG has invested over $30bn in Asian markets.

Weijian Shan, chairman and CEO of PAG, said he was confident Food Union was ‘uniquely positioned’ to deliver what the Chinese market needs.

Meridian Capital is an international private equity investment group that invests in food and beverage, transportation, real estate and natural resources sectors. 

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