Actis, the pan-emerging markets investor, is taking a significant minority stake in Jiashili Food Group, one of the largest Chinese biscuit brands.
Jiashili is a market leader in the production of plain biscuits and crackers, and holds the second biggest share of the plain biscuit market in China.
Actis is investing alongside Jiashili’s current chairman and owner Huang, a businessman who has grown revenues fourfold since acquiring the business in 2007.
Max Lin, the deal lead and a director in Actis’s China office, will join the Jiashili board.
Since 2001, Actis has invested over USD600m in consumer companies in China.
Lin says: “We are pleased to be making another investment in the Chinese consumer sector. Branded packaged food, especially snack food, is extremely popular and becoming more so, underpinned by growing disposable incomes and an increased focus on quality and food safety.”
Andreas von Paleske, head of consumer at Actis, says: “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.”
Huang says: “With its long track record of investing and working with Chinese companies and expertise in the global consumer food sector, we see Actis as the ideal partner. We look forward to working with the Actis team as we embark on our next stage of growth.”
