The transaction is structured in two parts. PSP will take up to 3% of AMFresh’s capital, with a commitment to remain in the company for between 8 and 10 years and a formula that will allow it to sell its stake back to the Muñoz family at the end of that period.
In addition, PSP will increase its stake in Bloom Fresh, AMFresh’s subsidiary dedicated to natural hybridisation and genetic improvement of fruit, in which EQT also holds a stake. The company that controls 51% of Bloom will now be 87% controlled by AMFresh, while PSP will hold the remaining 13%. EQT will retain 47% of Bloom, while the other 4% belongs to a fund for employees and executives.
Álvaro Muñoz, owner and CEO of AMFresh, told Expansión: “This is an investment to create value, not to sell, as it will allow us to go further than we could on our own.” Muñoz rules out any new shareholder movements in the short term, as well as a possible stock market listing.
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PSP is carrying out the investment through its sixth fund, Paine Schwartz Food Chain Fund VI, which raised $1.7bn in 2023. The firm first invested in AMFresh’s hybridisation subsidiary in 2019, then known as SNFL, where it acquired a 30% stake. In 2023, it sold part of its stake to EQT to support the acquisition of California-based IFG, a transaction that led to the creation of the current Bloom Fresh.
The strategic plan through 2036 aims to increase turnover from an estimated €2.5bn this year to €8bn within a decade, with annual investments of between €100m and €120m.
AMFresh closed 2024 with turnover of €2.2bn and EBITDA of more than €180m, placing the valuation granted by PSP at between 22.5 and 25 times estimated EBITDA for the current year.
