Investcorp to acquire controlling stake in Viz Branz

Bahrain’s Investcorp has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Viz Branz from the existing shareholder and CEO, Ben Chng.

The financial terms of the deal, which was concluded in partnership with the Asia Food Growth Fund I, have not been disclosed.

Established in 1988, Singapore-headquartered Viz Branz is a manufacturer and distributor of instant cereal and beverage brands, including Calsome, Royal Myanmar Tea and Cafe 21.

The company has manufacturing facilities and operations in Myanmar and in its largest market, China. According to Investcorp, in southern China Viz Branz’s Gold Roast brand has an around 35% share of the instant cereal market.

Viz Branz generated SGD 170 million ($126.3 million approx.) in sales for the 12 months ended 30 June 2020.

In 2019, Investcorp joined forces with Chinese partners China Resources and Fung Investments to launch a private equity fund dedicated to buying food brands and manufacturing sites in Asia.

Hazem Ben-Gacem, co-CEO of Investcorp and chairman of the Asia Food Growth Fund investment committee, said: “We are proud of our growing Asian investment platform. To date, Investcorp has invested over $1 billion in Asia, mostly in China.

“This transaction represents an exciting opportunity in a market-leading company and in what we believe is an attractive, resilient sector with substantial growth dynamics.

“We believe that Viz Branz is well positioned for expansion through increasing distribution in China and other parts of Southeast Asia, delivering product innovation and investing in the company’s operational and multi-channel capabilities, as well as through add-on acquisitions.

“We believe that the company’s market-leading positions could be leveraged to create a sizeable branded, packaged F&B platform in China and southeast Asia”.

Investcorp recently invested in FreshToHome’s Series C funding round to support the expansion of the Indian company’s ecommerce service.