California-based mergers and acquisitions firm Capital Marina Group has announced it is launching Agri Capital Company (ACC), a new $250 million ag and food investment fund company.

A noted combination of global realities and long-term macro trends have been cited as being the driving forces behind the decision to launch the new company.

The United Nations forecasts that the global population will increase from 7.2 billion today to 9.6 billion by 2050.

In addition, the latest data from The World Bank indicates that 37.5 percent of the world’s total land is tied into agricultural production, with the amount of arable land being used for permanent crop production remaining static for the past 30 years due to limited availability of arable land and water to support expansion. This reflects the need for required additional agricultural output to be generated through yield improvements in order to meet growing food demand.

Indeed, not only is food demand rising, but shifts within this demand dynamic are pointing to areas of investment opportunities within the food value chain. As health conscious consumers increasingly pivot away from a carbohydrate-based diet to one based in plants and fruits, investors in the supply chain will be faced with more opportunities to realize returns from strategic capital deployments.

“We are excited about ACC, we believe the food and agriculture sectors offer compelling investment opportunities along the entire food supply chain – from grower production to distribution to consumer consumption,”said Hal Berger, managing partner, Marina Capital Group. “These opportunities result from tight supply and demand conditions created by three primary global macro factors that we expect to endure over the long term.”

Through its investment strategy, ACC will focus on identifying private equity opportunities with middle market food companies and agricultural operations located in the Americas, and will target land deals with growers, agricultural brands, packing and distribution companies, consumer agriculture food product companies, snacks, frozen foods, and packaged consumer goods. The company will not be pursuing investments in the agricultural equipment sector however.

“We will deploy capital in the following type of transactions and markets: growth equity capital, mezzanine debt financing, land financing and consumer product company acquisitions of AG brands, snacks, frozen and packaged goods companies,’ noted Berger.

-Lynda Kiernan

Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.