JB Equity hires Rabo alum for Europe, Asia, LatAm expansion – exclusive

Sustainable agri-focused firm JB Equity has hired Bor Boer to oversee the investment firm’s expansion efforts in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Boer, who joins JB Equity as group chief executive and partner, previously served as a senior banker for food and agribusiness lender, Rabobank.

His 13-year stint at Rabobank included work supporting the commercial roll-out of the bank’s vendor finance arm, overseeing Rabobank China’s international wholesale client portfolio, including agri multinationals based in the US and Europe; and serving as director of capital structuring for Asia.

“Boer’s experience in managing large-scale transactions in Europe and Asia, his in-depth knowledge of corporate finance and vast global network will see Boer add immense value to JB Equity,” chairman Martin Hjorth-Jensen said.

Boer said the firm plans to be opportunistic in its strategy, focusing on demographic trends that show growing demand in emerging markets and advances in biotech and agtech in economically developed countries.

“I think what we’ll probably see is more opportunities in production in the developing world, whereas more of the opportunities in Western Europe and North America are going to be on the tech side,” he said.

JB Equity plans to launch a traditional private equity fund by the end of 2016 to make growth investments between $8 million and $20 million in emerging markets. Boer said the lower acquisition costs in the developing world create more opportunities for a committed fund structure, as opposed to the deal-by-deal strategy currently employed by the firm.

In November of last year, the firm brought on Stephen Mcloughlin as a partner to support expansion efforts in sub-Saharan Africa. In July of that year, the firm brought on partner Glen Illing to establish a deal pipeline in Southeast Asia.

JB Equity has operated on a deal-by-deal basis, focusing on growth investments valued between $10 million and $40 million. The group is currently negotiating the acquisition of a pig production and processing operation in Latin America, believed to be valued between $20 and $25 million.