June 23, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), one of the country’s largest pension investment managers with C$230.5 billion (US$177.4 billion) in AUM, has entered into a long-term strategic partnership with Citri&Co, a portfolio company of Miura Partners and top vertically integrated fresh fruit company, for the acquisition and management of agricultural land. 

Under the terms of the agreement, PSP Investments will acquire farmland, primarily citrus orchards located in Spain, while Citri&Co will leverage its decades-long experience and expertise to operate and manage the assets.

Citri&Co is a portfolio company of Miura Partners – a middle-market PE firm based in Barcelona, Spain, with more than €1 billion (US$1.05 billion) in AUM. It is a leading vertically integrated fresh fruit company in Europe, active in both conventional and organic citrus, melon, watermelon, and stone fruit production in Spain and Brazil.

 With support from its long-term partnerships, the company markets more than 700,000 tons of fruit per year to more than 200 customers in more than 30 countries. 

Marc Drouin, senior managing director of real assets, and global head of natural resources investments, PSP Investments, noted, “Citri&Co represents an ideal partner for PSP Investments in the European fresh produce sector, particularly given Spain’s status as the leading global producer and exporter of citrus fruit.”

Drouin continued, “Backed by Miura Partners, Citri&Co’s top-tier management team has grown the company significantly. This new partnership with Citri&Co is aligned with our strategy of adding high-quality, sustainable agricultural assets with long-term growth potential to our portfolio.”

In line with Citri&Co’s vertically integrated “field-to-table” business model, it also will oversee the packing, distribution, and sale of all produce grown on the properties.

Moving forward, both parties, together with Miura Partners, will continue to scout acquisition, development, and management opportunities for agricultural land that will strengthen Citri&Co’s position as a year-round supplier of fresh fruit.

Carlos Blanc, CEO of Citri&Co, commented on the partnership, saying, “Our strategic partnership with PSP Investments will reinforce our value proposition allowing us to focus on what we do best: to be a 12-month, high-quality fresh fruit supplier, ensuring the best standards across the supply chain, from the field to the table.”

This partnership also serves to reinforce both partners’ commitments to sustainable agricultural development, as PSP Investments has pledged to deploy capital and use its influence to drive the transition to global net zero by 2050, and Citri&Co has officially audited and verified its carbon neutrality in corporate activity and citrus production in Spain.

“…we are 100 percent aligned with PSP Investments’ fundamental values as they cherish the land acquired under their sustainability principles,” said Blanc.

Recently, PSP Investments seems to be making moves to gain position in fresh fruit production in both hemispheres.

This partnership with Citri&Co follows closely upon another fresh fruit deal announced in early June through which a wholly-owned subsidiary of PSP Investments acquired a 75 percent stake in Peruvian fresh berry grower HFE Berries Perú SAC from Hortifrut. 

This deal gave PSP Investments exposure to an industry in Peru poised for growth. In a relatively short period of time, Peru has become the top exporter of blueberries in the world, with the country shipping more than 150,000 tons at a value exceeding $1 billion – an incredible achievement considering the country shipped only 12,000 tons in the 2015/16 season. 

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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