Cibus Capital’s Cibus Fund I has signed a share purchase agreement to sell Innoliva Group, an Iberian olive-oil producer and processor, to global private asset manager Fiera Comox Partners.
Innoliva is the largest asset within Cibus Fund I and the sale marks its first exit of a wholly-owned portfolio company.
Under Cibus Fund I’s ownership, Innoliva has doubled its footprint from around 4,300ha of “super high-density” olive-oil production to over 8,300ha of diversified products, including almonds and table olives and completed the conversion of more than 2,300ha of olive orchards to organic production, positioning Innoliva as a leading producer of organic extra virgin olive oil globally, Cibus said.
Cibus added that Innoliva’s expansion has been supported by its “mission to promote agriculture’s essential transition to more sustainable food production systems”.
Robert Appleby, founder and chief investment officer of Cibus Capital, said: “Innoliva was the first buyout executed by Cibus Fund I. We engaged an excellent management team, which transformed a humdrum olive oil producer into a business that has produced excellent financial returns while espousing world-class sustainability practices.
“We are grateful to our stakeholders for their ongoing commitment to our strategy and to the new owners, whom we are confident will continue Innoliva’s successful growth trajectory.”
Jorge Pena, chief executive officer at Innoliva, said: “We are thankful to Cibus for its instrumental role in growing Innoliva and transforming it into a leading extra-virgin olive oil producer in Iberia and one of the largest producers of premium organic olive oil globally. We are thrilled to welcome Fiera Comox as our partner to continue with our growth strategy in the region.”
The sale of Innoliva is expected to complete by the end of the year.
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