New Zealand-based dairy cooperative Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) has secured a deal to acquire a 50% stake in Israeli farm management company Afimilk for NZD 108.7 million ($69.1 million).
LIC, which is partly owned by Fonterra, said the proposed deal will help it keep its edge in pastoral dairy farming data while broadening access to new information to meet future needs and challenges.
Afimilk develops, manufactures and markets systems to manage dairy farms and is active in more than 50 countries. For fiscal 2019, the company’s revenues were $55 million and its EBITDA was $9 million.
As part of the deal, private equity firm Fortissimo is selling its entire 30.8% holding in Afimilk and Kibbutz Afikim is selling 19.2% of the company. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2020.
LIC chair Murray King says the investment will help give LIC access to the data it needs to deliver superior herd improvement services for New Zealand farmers.
“It will help ensure LIC’s on-going access to pastoral dairy farming data through the increased use of in-line milk meters and animal monitoring systems (such as collars),” he said.
“We believe there are likely to be further development opportunities for in-line milk meters, to increase LIC’s resilience to the threat of disruption to access to pastoral dairy farming data posed as a result of the move away from traditional herd-testing services.
“The investment will also help to drive future growth by opening LIC’s access to data on other farming methods beyond pastoral held by Afimilk.”
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