Chinese agribusiness New Hope has launched a a 3 billion yuan ($460 million; ‎€420 million) fund to make strategic investments abroad with local investment firm Harvest Fund and the Zhejiang provincial government.
The fund would target agricultural assets and build an industrial park in Australia, according to the Beijing Times.
At the same time, the company is raising $450 million through agriculture and China-focused private equity firm Hosen Capital to fund acquisitions abroad.
New Hope, already one of China’s top egg, poultry and agribusiness suppliers, wants to expand its presence in supply chains, including in meat and dairy.
Founder Liu Yonghao also said that his company was spending 8.8. billion yuan in large-scale pig farms at home.
New Hope is a cornerstone investor in Hosen Capital’s New Hope Agriculture and Food Fund II, which was targeting $180 million to invest in rural agribusinesses, food safety and supply chains, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Reports in the Asia Capital Venture Journal last year said the target had been doubled to $400 million, but this has not been confirmed elsewhere. Hosen Capital did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Hosen’s core team was originally part of New Hope Capital, the financial business arm of New Hope Group, according to the IFC.
Last year, New Hope’s Singaporean subsidiary New Hope Liuhe took out a $60 million financing package from the IFC to boost its investment in agriculture and food businesses across ten countries in South and South-East Asia, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
The company also announced a dairy joint venture with the Moxey family, Freedom Foods and the Perich Group in Australia last year.
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