Oatly, the Swedish sustainable food company, today announced
that it has further bolstered its plant-based movement through an
agreement to invest $200 million in equity led by Blackstone Growth
(“BXG”). Additional investors in the funding round include Oprah
Winfrey, Roc Nation, Natalie Portman, former Starbucks Chairman and
CEO Howard Schultz, Orkila Capital, and Rabo Corporate Investments,
the investment arm of Rabobank. As minority shareholders, the new
investors will join the company’s existing partners, including
Verlinvest-CR JV and the company’s founders, on Oatly’s dynamic
journey. As part of this transaction, Oatly’s founders will also be
reinvesting in the company’s growth by providing additional
capital.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200714005516/en/
The demand for a more sustainable food system is global and
growing fast, with much of the shift being led by Millennials and
Generation Z. Oatly’s patented original oatmilk created the
fast-growing oatmilk category and the company is a leader in the
plant-based food space, with its products available in more than
50,000 locations in 20 countries. The injection of capital will
fund the company’s overall growth plans, which include expansion in
current markets and new production plants and related jobs in
Europe, the United States and Asia. By bringing facilities closer
to consumers, the company will make the Oatly product range more
readily available to the growing community of health and
environmentally conscious consumers worldwide.
For Oatly’s CEO Toni Petersson, this investment demonstrates a
major step in funding sustainable, society-altering companies.
Petersson said: “Leaders in asset management like Blackstone play
an essential role in order to create real sustainable change. It is
my belief that capital has to turn green and do so for the right
reasons. Since we re-launched our brand in 2013, our focus has been
to positively impact society by enabling people to change their
lives with better, more environmentally responsible food choices,
and in so doing, re-shape the food system to better contribute to
the future of the planet. We chose to partner with Blackstone
Growth because of their tremendous resources and unique reach. Our
new partners’ commitment to supporting us and furthering of our
mission is a clear indication of where the world is heading, which
is in a new, more sustainable direction.”
Jon Korngold, Global Head of Blackstone Growth, said: “Oatly is
a premier global brand whose product is committed to healthy and
sustainable living with significant runway for continued growth to
meet rising consumer demand. We are privileged to partner with Toni
and the broader Oatly team to help the company extend its global
leadership position in the years to come.”
Since its founding in Sweden in the 1990s, Oatly has always been
at the forefront of the rapidly growing plant-based movement. As
part of the company’s overarching mission to reduce the C02e
footprint of the food industry by shifting consumers’ consumption
choices, the company last year added a carbon footprint label to
their products in Europe. By making that data available, Oatly
enabled consumers to consider the carbon footprint of their food
choices before they buy, just as they do with nutritional content.
The label was accompanied by a challenge to the larger industry
titled “Hey, food industry: show us your numbers!”
The Oatly campaign delivered several industry-changing
results:
- Multiple retailers moved to enhanced product labelling, showing
carbon footprints;
- The Deutsche Bundestag (German Parliament) agreed to consider
mandating enhancing carbon footprint product labelling into law;
and
- Food giant Unilever committed to begin carbon labelling for
70,000 of its food products.
“I understand that it may sound naive at times to actually
believe that Oatly can change the world—that the impact of what we
do can inspire others to make changes that will lead to a global
behavioral shift among consumers—but that’s fine. Investments from
firms like Blackstone in companies like Oatly is a critical step in
securing a future of focused green investment that transcends
traditional CSR work and focuses on urgent, systemic efforts to
address the climate crisis,” said Petersson.
Eric Melloul, Chairman of Oatly and Managing Director at
Verlinvest said: “I am delighted to welcome to the Oatly family our
new partners who share our commitment to supporting
category-creating brands and sustainability. Since our initial
investment in 2016, we have supported Oatly in its successful
transformation from a Nordic brand into a global movement by
delivering unique, high-quality engaging products, based on
proprietary, patented oat-technology to the new emerging generation
of conscious consumers in a transparent manner. We are thrilled as
this new investment will accelerate the Oatly brand expansion in
North America, Asia and Europe and allow for the emergence of a
global leader in food sustainability.”
Ann Chung, Managing Director at Blackstone Growth, said: "Oatly
has a creative and talented team, an incredible brand, and a strong
set of values. We’re excited to invest in what they have built and
to join forces with the Verlinvest-CR JV to ensure its continued
success moving forward.”
About Oatly
Oatly is a world leader in the global sustainability movement,
promoting the benefits of plant-based eating from both a
nutritional and sustainability standpoint, in order to creative
positive societal change. The company was founded in the 1990s and
is based on original scientific research from Lund University.
Today the company offers a broad range of nutritious and
sustainable oat-based products which utilize a patented enzyme
technology that copies nature’s own process and turns fiber-rich
oats into nutritional liquid food designed specifically for humans.
Oatly currently employs 550 people throughout Europe, North America
and Asia with global headquarters in Malm�, Sweden and regional
offices in New York, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Shanghai
and Hong Kong.
About Verlinvest-CR Joint Venture
The Verlinvest-CR Joint Venture was established in 2016 to
invest in mid-sized, high-growth businesses in the healthy branded
Food & Beverage and Senior Care sectors. The Joint Venture
marries Verlinvest’s deep consumer expertise in growing
international F&B brands with China Resources’ broad
distribution capability to bring innovative and high potential
brands to a global audience. Verlinvest is an international
consumer-focused investment company, supporting entrepreneur-led,
high-growth, category-defining brands with global ambitions, with
offices in Brussels, London, New York and Singapore. China
Resources is a holding company with a diverse range of business
interests, including over 4,700 food retail outlets and coffee
shops in 280 cities across China, under brands including Vanguard,
Tesco Vanguard, Olé and Pacific Coffee.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We
seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our
investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which
we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible
capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management
businesses, with $538 billion in assets under management, include
investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public
debt and equity, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade
credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis.
Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow
Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200714005516/en/
Oatly – U.S. Sara Fletcher Sara.Fletcher@oatly.com +1 646 410
3343
Oatly – EMEA & APAC Fredrik Elisson
fredrik.elisson@oatly.com +46 73 256 00 32
Blackstone – U.S. Matt Anderson Matthew.Anderson@blackstone.com
+1 518 248 7310
Blackstone – EMEA Rebecca Flower Rebecca.Flower@blackstone.com
+44 (0)7918 360372
Blackstone (NYSE:BX)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Mär 2024 bis Apr 2024
Blackstone (NYSE:BX)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Apr 2023 bis Apr 2024