Canadian investment firm Rockshield Capital has completed the acquisitions of Belle Pulses and Sapientia, which it will combine to create a global plant-based company.
Rockshield initially entered into a letter of intent with Novel Agri-Technologies back in April to acquire Sapienta and a “pulse processor” – undisclosed due to competitive reasons. Meanwhile, Rockshield has terminated its previously announced purchase of Boku International.
The acquired companies offer capabilities in raw ingredients, processing, pulse fractionation and consumer packaged goods products. Based in Canada, Belle Pulses is a processor of plant-based ingredients such as whole and split peas, as well as pea flours.
Sapientia consists of Sapientia Technology, together with its affiliate entity Innovative Prairie Snack Foods. The firm develops a range of plant-based products including meat alternatives, pulse-based snacks and dairy-free milk and yogurt.
The consideration of the acquisition includes the issuance of 3.74 million common shares in the capital of Rockshield and a cash payment of $6.4 million to the former shareholders of Sapientia. Meanwhile the consideration for Belle Pulses was CAD 30 million (approximately $23.9 million).
Upon completion of the acquired companies, Rockshield has created a new vertically integrated agri-business division. The company intends the division to become a global plant-based foods platform and forecasts it to achieve $60 million in 2021 revenue with $15 million in gross profit.
Following the transaction, Belle Pulses will become a part of Rockshield’s new subsidiary Prairie Plant Farms; while Sapientia will come under its new consumer packaged goods subsidiary, The Healthy Table Superfoods.
“Today represents the culmination of 42 years of hard work with Rockshield’s acquisition, which provides a significant opportunity for the Belle Pulses name to be expanded to an even greater audience,” said Tony Gaudet, founder and CEO of Belle Pulses.
Newly-appointed president of Rockshield, Marc Aneed, said: “The trends for plant-based foods are only getting stronger, and we are well-positioned to rapidly scale and capture market share with the closing of these acquisitions and $60 million in revenue as our starting point.”
Rockshield says the companies will provide an enhanced global footprint with significant distribution across B2B and B2C channels.
“From over a decade of developing and scaling plant-based opportunities across North America and the globe, we are in a unique position to capitalise on an excellent pipeline of acquisitive agribusiness, food-tech, and commercial businesses to continue to build our platform,” said Mark Coles, strategic adviser and head of corporate development at Rockshield.
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