Fortissimo and Kibbutz Afikim announced today the execution of an agreement for the sale of 50% of S.A.E. Afikim (“Afimilk”) to Livestock Improvement Corporation (“LIC”), a New Zealand based cooperative. The enterprise value of Afimilk is $140 million. The acquirer, LIC is a farmer-owned co-operative that provides leading-edge genetics and solutions to improve the productivity and prosperity of dairy farmers. Among the shareholders of LIC is Frontera, the largest milk producer in the world.
Afimilk develops, manufactures and markets advanced systems to manage dairy farms and is active in more than 50 countries. For fiscal 2019, Afimilk’s revenues were $55 million, and its EBITDA was $9 million.
Yochai Hacohen, a partner at Fortissimo stated: “After augmenting its management and working closely with the Kibbutz and the company on a focused growth strategy, together we have been able to achieve great success in the market. Its new partnership with LIC will enable the company to further enhance its activities.”
Arik Schor, chairman of the Kibbutz and of Afimilk said: “The fruitful cooperation between Kibbutz Afikim and Fortissimo enabled Afimilk to achieve revenue and profitability growth. Afimilk will continue to operate from its headquarters in Kibbutz Afikim and together with its new strategic partner will strengthen its global presence and continue to expand its activities.”
Fortissimo is selling its entire 30.8% holding in Afimilk and the Kibbutz is selling 19.2% of the company. Fortissimo invested $5 million in 2010 and is expected to return approximately 9x on its investment. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2020.
Fortissimo Capital Fund is a growth capital Israeli-related private equity fund focused primarily on maturing technology and industrial companies that are at a point of inflection. Fortissimo’s investment strategy is to achieve capital appreciation through taking a leading role and active approach in Israeli-related global businesses that require immediate and significant change, or stimulation of growth and by building business fundamentals to facilitate sustainable long-term growth and value creation.
Some of Fortissimo’s notable exits include: the initial public offering of Kornit Digital Ltd; the initial public offering of SodaStream International Ltd; the sale of Diptech to Ferro.
