Australian organic dairy business B-d. Farm Paris Creek has been acquired by investment company Primary Opinion for AUD34m (US$25.8m).
Paris Creek, based in Adelaide Hills, South Australia, is a processing and manufacturing company which produces fresh milk, yogurt and cheese that is sold throughout the country.
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The founders and current owners of the business, Helmet and Ulli Spranz, are regarded as pioneers of the Australian organic-biodynamic movement.
To meet expected demand, Paris Creek recently upgraded its processing capacity from 10m litres to approximately 30m litres. It is supplied from a pool of local organic-biodynamic farmers, including Helmut and Ulli, and has control over an estimated 20% of organic raw milk in Australia.
It had gross revenue in FY 2017 of AUD19.8m.
Helmut and Ulli Spranz will stay on in the business during a “transition period to new management”.
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By GlobalDataSpranz said: “Today is a great step forward for the B-d Farm Paris Creek vision. When we came to Australia in the mid-1980s, we firmly believed in our vision of providing our children with a safe, healthy place to live. We added to that our vision of sustainable, premium organic dairy products and have created a team of people that are as passionate about organic as we are.”
Primary Opinion chief executive Laura McBain said: “Helmut, Ulli and the Paris Creek team have built an amazing foundation. It has a world-class manufacturing facility that has recently had more than AUD8m invested to increase its capacity, it has a solid supply chain with access to a growing pool of organic milk and its products are in high demand. We believe that with a strong brand, sales and marketing focus, we can create a long term, formidable Australian success story.”
It is Primary Opinion’s second investment in Australian food and drinks businesses following it taking a 48% stake in food and cookery firm Maggie Beer Products.
McBain joined Primary Opinion earlier this year after leaving infant-formula business Bellamy’s Australia in January. McBain’s departure followed a tumultuous number of months at Bellamy’s, which had seen its shares suspended after problems at its business in China.
