Investment firm Actis has taken a “significant minority stake” in Chinese biscuit group Jiashili Food Group.
Jiashili chairman Xianming Huang will remain the firm’s largest shareholder. Huang purchased Jiashili in 2007 and, under his ownership, revenues have increased fourfold, Actis said.
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According to Actis, the company is China’s largest domestic biscuit maker, with the second-largest market share in the plain biscuit market.
The group operates three production bases in Guangdong, Jiangsu and Hebei provinces, with a total capacity of 130,000 tons. Jiashili’s core products include plain biscuits, crackers, sandwich biscuits and wafer biscuits.
Andreas von Paleske, head of consumer at Actis, said the fund, which is focused on emerging markets, hopes to accelerate Jiashili’s expansion in the growing Chinese snack food sector.
“We have identified significant growth potential for Jiashili, based upon leveraging the company’s strong brand and product strength. We have great confidence in Mr Huang and the management team at Jiashili, who have driven the company forward over the past seven years,” he said.
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By GlobalDataHuang added he was attracted to Actis because of its track record of Chinese investments and “expertise in the global consumer food sector”. Huang added the move would see Jiashili move into its “next stage of growth”.
Actis will take one board seat, which will be held by Max Lin, the deal lead and a director in Actis’s China office. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Last year, Actis acquired a 30% stake in Egypt-based snack food group Edita Food Industries.
