Spearhead International Sold
Paine & Partners, a US-based private equity investment firm focused on investing globally in food and agribusiness, has acquired Spearhead International, one of the largest agricultural producers in the European Union. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Cambridge, England, Spearhead has farming operations on approximately 85,000 hectares of high-quality agricultural land in Poland, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Romania and Slovakia. Spearhead’s diversified primary product offering includes grains and oilseeds, potatoes and vegetables, sugar beet, seed crops, milk and livestock and other products. Spearhead has, over recent years, also developed significant operations in its upstream and downstream businesses including seed production and supply chain management. This vertical integration positions Spearhead as a value-added ingredients and supply chain partner to blue-chip customers who rely on the company for consistency, quality, food safety and traceability.
John Atkin, former chief operating officer of Syngenta, will serve as the new chairman of Spearhead upon closing of the transaction. Spearhead’s management team, which has achieved significant growth and added a range of services to enhance Spearhead’s offerings across the value chain, will continue to lead the day-to-day operations of the company.
David Buckeridge, operating partner at Paine & Partners, says: “We see significant high-return expansion opportunities across Spearhead’s vertically integrated operations, and we will capture knowledge and product synergies from the other companies in Paine & Partners leading food and agribusiness portfolio, including Verdesian Life Sciences. In addition, Spearhead will benefit from the operational experience and expertise that John Atkin will bring as chairman. We look forward to unlocking Spearhead’s potential and taking the company to its next level of growth.”
The investment represents the first transaction for Paine & Partners Fund IV, a leading platform for food and agribusiness investing.
