November 5, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

The Carlyle Group has invested an incremental €35 million (US$41.4 million) in Unifrutti – one of the largest and leading fresh fruit producers in the world. 

This investment was made with capital from Carlyle’s $2.4 billion Credit Opportunities Fund, and was structured as an add-on to bond financing completed in 2019 when Carlyle provided a €140 million (US$165.6 million) debut debt financing package for Unifrutti that brought Carlyle’s total investments in the company to €175 million (US$207 million).

Founded in 1948 in Eritrea by Guido de Nadai as a fruit and vegetable import/export company, Unifrutti Group has grown to be a leading name in the global fresh fruit sector with vertically integrated production models across more than 14,000 hectares (34,595 acres) of farmland in Chile, Turkey, the Philippines, South Africa, and Italy, spanning 93 farms, of which it owns 59.

The group has offices in Japan, Italy, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, Philippines, Turkey, the Middle East, China, and India, and due to its direct ownership in its farms, controls its entire value chain, marketing and distributing approximately 550,000 tons of fresh fruit to more than 50 countries on a year-round basis, earning the company consolidated revenues of $675 million last year. 

“… we are pleased to strengthen our partnership with The Carlyle Group, an investor that has supported our Group since 2019 and shares our strategy and growth ambitions,” noted Marco Venturelli, CEO, Unifruitti Group.

With the capital gained through this investment, Unifrutti acquired a 92 percent stake in Oranfrizer, Italy’s top producer of blood oranges (sold both as fruit and juice) that it markets on a global scale to Japan, China, the U.S., and the EU generating €47 million (US$55.6 million) for FY2019.

“About 60 years ago Oranfrizer started to enhance the citrus fruits of Sicily and other fruits grown in suitable areas of our island. Now the work continues,” said Sebastiano Alba, CEO, Oranfrizer.

“Our family is honored to join the Unifrutti Group, one of the major international players in the global fruit and vegetable market. Unifrutti and Oranfrizer share the common goal of overseeing the segment of quality production, processes and products, with particular attention to the issues of environmental sustainability.”

The company also operates the largest orange supply chain in Sicily that is made of Oranfrizer Juice and the Carmito farm that consists of 160 hectares (395 acres) of citrus groves, and is owned by the producer organization Terre e Sole di Sicilia – a collective of 148 producers working 1,400 hectares (3,459.5 acres) that have recently been renovated with new graft and rootstock to combat the virus Tristeza and to establish new Tarocco cultivars.

Oranfrizer maintains a strong brand and product identity and has promising potential for international expansion. The deal adds a globally relevant, premium, exclusive-to-Italy product to Unifrutti’s portfolio that brings sought-after cultivars of blood oranges originating in the Plains of Catania, and positions Unifrutti for expansion in the global citrus space, marking citrus as part of the company’s ongoing growth and development strategy, according to a statement announcing Carlyle’s investment and the acquisition. 

This growth trajectory builds upon an evolution for the company begun in 2015 when the De Nadai family undertook a process of reorganization for Unifrutti’s structure, functions, and divisions that saw the company shift away from being a family-run business to an independently managed, international group.

“Oranfrizer represents an important step in our continued growth and adds an internationally recognized asset to our portfolio,” said Venturelli. “This transaction is a key component of our global buy-and-build strategy through which we plan to seize additional attractive opportunities to grow and increase profitability, as well as create value for all stakeholders.”

Venturelli continued, “Unifrutti Group sees opportunity to consolidate our global leadership position in the high-quality fresh fruit sector and we are continuing to develop our presence in most international markets with a focus on rapidly expanding markets in Europe, China and Japan.”

Alba added, “Thanks to this agreement, our blood orange, already one of the most recognized excellences of Italian fruit production, will be able to more easily reach new destinations and strengthen its presence in the countries where it has already been introduced. To grow abroad, and in Italy of course, we will strengthen our entire production chain.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.