The alternative asset manager completed the transaction through the Asia Food Growth Fund 1.
Investcorp, the alternative asset manager that counts Mubadala Investment Company as its biggest shareholder, invested in China’s instant food maker Mo Xiaoxian as it seeks to expand its portfolio in the world’s second largest economy.
The company completed the investment through the Asia Food Growth Fund 1, a dedicated private equity fund focused on investing in a diversified portfolio of food-related companies in Asia, it said on Sunday. Investcorp did not disclose the total value of the deal.
“At Investcorp, we seek to invest in brands that benefit from the current shifts in consumption and with China’s growing middle class we see attractive opportunities in the innovative instant food brand sector,” said Hazem Ben-Gacem, co-chief executive of Investcorp.
“The investment in Mo Xiaoxian is the right fit for the fund’s strategy as we continue to expand in Asia.”
Based in Shanghai, Mo Xiaoxian employs about 200 people and has a multichannel sales network of online and offline distributors, at more than 700, and a presence in more than 46,000 retail outlets. The company makes rice dishes, instant vermicelli and noodles.
The transaction in Mo Xiaoxian marks the fourth investment made by Asia Food Growth Fund 1, which was set up in partnership with China Resources Capital Management, the private investment arm of China Resources Group, and Fung Strategic Holdings.
The fund’s other investments include Singapore’s instant cereal maker Viz Branz, City Super Group and Hong Kong’s Heritage foods.
With assets worth more than $37 billion under management, Investcorp has been on a deal-making spree over the past year.
It made five new private equity investments in the US and Europe, two add-on acquisitions and 11 investments in businesses across Asia in the 12-month period to the end of June.
Investcorp, which is planning a rapid expansion of its GCC and Asian investment portfolio, expects its assets under management to more than double to $100bn in seven years’ time, executive chairman Mohammed Alardhi told Bloomberg in September.
Last year, it invested in India’s e-commerce start-up FreshToHome to expand its portfolio in Asia’s third-largest economy.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Finance World staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
