ULIMI Fund, a private equity fund managed by Old Mutual Investment Group Malawi, has made an undisclosed amount of investment in Gala Agriculture Company, a macadamia plantation in Malawi.
Gala Agriculture Company operates 12 farming estates spanning 6,000 ha and has made considerable progress towards building a state-of-the-art export driven operation, which is already delivering significant social, environmental and community benefits.
The company will use the equity investment to double their macadamia plantations and production facilities over the next five years.“We are delighted to partner with Old Mutual Investment Group Malawi at this exciting point of growth for Gala and look forward to benefiting from their experience in Malawi and across Africa.
“We believe that Gala will become a pre-eminent macadamia producer in Africa with the potential for a globally recognized retail brand,” George Tselingas, Founder and chairman of Gala Agriculture Company, said.
Both Gala Agriculture Company and Old Mutual underpin their activities with the highest levels of environmental consciousness, deep social commitment to the people and country in which they operate, supported by a Board and Management Team that exercises international standards of governance.
Africa Merchant Capital (AMC) advised the management team at Gala Agriculture Company on this investment.
Jan Louis van den Berg, who led the transaction for AMC Advisory, said, “We are proud to have assisted our client to secure hundreds of jobs for the further development of Gala to develop into a globally recognized macadamia estate.“The partnership between Gala and Old Mutual Investment Group Malawi brings together a cohesive strategy for both organizations that target high-value crops, increased local employment, and supporting the export markets of African countries, particularly Malawi in the case of this investment.”
Meanwhile, Old Mutual Investment Group Malawi was advised by UFF, a specialist agri-investor in Africa, combining commercial Agri- Investment and sustainability on the African continent to provide investors with a compelling risk/return profile.
The investment in Gala Agriculture follows UFF’s involvement in Malawian farming business, Jacoma Estates and its subsidiary earlier last year.
Jacoma Estates is the parent company of Tropha Estates, an agribusiness in Northern Malawi developing over 1,000 hectares of irrigated macadamia and annual crops.
The company is focused on producing cash crops for export, has three nucleus farms and a macadamia processing facility. It has also established smallholder out grower schemes for macadamia, chili and paprika.
UFF, based in South Africa has a large footprint with operations in Morocco, Nigeria, East Africa, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.
Its focus is to invest locally and internationally to create a mutual benefit for the investor, their workforce and the countries in which they operate.
Within the South African market, UFF has 6 farms that specialize in the production of citrus, table grapes, bananas, and deciduous and stone fruit.
– Food Business