October 6, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Leading Spanish investment and asset management company Azora Group (Azora) has acquired a 33 percent stake in Iberian Smart Financial Agro (ISFA), an ag project management company focused on the development of high-density almond farms under the Sustainable Efficient System (SES) cultivation system. 

Based in Vitoria, Spain, ISFA scouts and identifies farms suitable for this type of development – the planting of genetically optimized almond varieties, the installation of precision nutrition and irrigation systems, and the operation of mechanized and digitized plantations.

The company’s overarching plan is for the eventual development of 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of almond trees in the Iberian Peninsula, following the strictest sustainability parameters. 

Over the past four years, the company has invested more than €75 million (US$74.2 million) to develop nearly 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres), and has a portfolio of farms totaling another 6,000 hectares (14,826 acres) that are currently under development.

The wider project also includes plans for the installation of a plant in Extremadura for the recovery of almond by-products, to create a zero-waste, circular system.

When examining almond production in Spain, a project of this type – highly focused on efficiency in production and sustainability – hits exactly where there exists a gap in the country’s industry. Spain is home to the largest area of cultivated almond orchards in the world at more than 700,000 hectares (1.73 million acres), but the country ranks third in terms of output, due to the majority of its acreage being on rain-fed on marginal land, and planted at a low-density.

A project entailing high-density planting of orchards that will employ advanced production methods with sustainability at the forefront has the potential to bring Spain’s almond industry to the next level.

Azora Reaches for Ag

Founded in 2003, Azora Group has created a diversified portfolio of capital commitments within the housing, hotels, offices, and renewable energy sectors, amassing €6.5 billion (US$6.43 billion) of AUM in Europe and the U.S.

This deal is part of Azora’s strategy of seeking out opportunities in key sectors that create exposure to companies that are contributing to the decarbonization of real assets and the mitigation of climate change.

“For Azora it is a great satisfaction to open this avenue of investment by joining ISFA, a leading company in the agricultural sector that is coming to revolutionize almond cultivation in the Iberian Peninsula,” said Santiago Olivares, partner responsible for energy, infrastructure, and sustainability investments, Azora.

“Azora, which has extensive experience in the real estate and renewable energy sectors, with this acquisition broadens the horizon of its investments to companies whose activity is focused on providing climate and sustainable solutions, especially in the real estate sector,” Olivares concluded.

Through this deal, Azora stated that its expertise in developing and transforming assets will greatly complement the experience the ISFA team has in the development of sustainable projects in the agricultural sector.

“With the acquisition of this important participation in ISFA, we inaugurate an investment area in companies that promote decarbonization,” said Concha Osácar, founding partner, Azora. “At Azora we feel that the fight against climate change is a responsibility that we must all prioritize as a society, which is why we made this strategic commitment. We are convinced that this sector is key and will have great development in the coming years.”

Asier Ugaldea, founding partner of ISFA, added, “ISFA celebrates the incorporation of Azora, a leading company committed to decarbonization and climate change mitigation, as a strategic partner to accelerate its growth plan, with the aim of becoming the producer of European leader almond with a model based on sustainability and a firm commitment to the digitization of agricultural processes.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief 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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