AeroFarms to go Public Via SPAC Deal at $1.2B Valuation
By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media As AeroFarms’ co-founder and CEO David Rosenberg noted that the business is at an inflection point, the leading vertical farming company is merging with Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Spring Valley Acquisition to list on the Nasdaq with expectations of an approximate value of $1.2 bi
Read moreLIVEKINDLY Raises $200M in New Funding, Closes Round at $335
By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media It was one year ago, in March 2020, that GAI News first shared news about LIVEKINDLY Collective, a new plant-based food platform launched by a consortium of founders, entrepreneurs, and global industry leaders with a mission to transform the global food system. Now, LIVEKINDLY announced it has
Read moreCropX Partners with NASA Harvest for Out-of-This-World Global Soil Monitoring
By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media Soil analytics company CropX has forged a strategic partnership with NASA Harvest - NASA’s Food Security and Agriculture Program housed within the NASA Applied Sciences Program - to collaborate on global agricultural monitoring, and to provide NASA with unprecedented insights into soil health.
Read moreCP Buys Kansas City Southern in $29B Deal Creating First U.S.-Mexico-Canada Rail Network
By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media In a deal marking the biggest evolutionary step in North American railways since 1996 when CSX merged with Conrail, Canadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) announced their agreement to merge, creating the first rail network to connect the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The combination
Read moreCOFCO Merger to Create Trading Behemoth Prior to IPO
By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media China’s largest food company COFCO is positioning to merge its international trading arm, COFCO International, with a number of domestic Chinese businesses, creating a behemoth agricultural trader prior to an IPO (likely to occur in Shanghai) of the new entity. State-owned COFCO owns a 60 pe
Read moreMacquarie Places Lawson Grains on The Market
By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media Amid a recent uptick in high-profile Australian holdings being put on the market, this may be the biggest. Macquarie Bank has decided to sell Lawson Grains - a 105,000-hectare (260,000-acre) corporate grain and oilseed farming venture with properties across New South Wales and Western Australia.
Read moreTianma Bearing Group Selling Balfour Downs and Wandaya Stations With Expectations of $32-$40M
By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media Tianma Bearing Group (TBG), the investment vehicle of Chinese billionaire Xingfa Ma, has listed the Balfour Downs and Wandaya Stations - a combined large scale breeding and finishing operation in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia. Ma expects to fetch between $32 - $40 million for th
Read moreBig Idea Ventures Strengthening Its Presence in Europe and the U.S.
By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media Early stage food tech investor and accelerator Big Idea Ventures has announced developments that will strengthen its presence in both the EU and in the U.S. The EU In 2019 Big Idea launched its New Protein Fund - a fund with a goal to raise $50 million to make seed and early stage investmen
Read moreFarmers Edge Completes Toronto IPO Raising C$125M
By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media Just about a month after Winnipeg-based agricultural data management platform Farmers Edge launched a long-term partnership with Google Cloud, the company announced it has completed its IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange raising C$125 million (about US$100 million) in the process. Launched in 2
Read moreROC Private Equity Makes A$315M Counterbid Over MIRA for VitalHarvest
By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media ROC Private Equity has been making bold moves as it builds out an impressive and diversified portfolio of Australian ag holdings. In December 2020, the Sydney-based alternative asset investment manager fully acquired Emerald Grain from Sumitomo, adding the grain interest to its portfolio that al
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