Italian holding Gerber-Rauth, a firm that Christian Pichler founded in 2015, and other investors exit
Paris-listed French food giant Danone said it acquired California’s Kate Farms, a manufacturer of plant-based organic nutritional drinks and products. Brett Matthews, the target’s ceo, will head Danone’s Medical Nutrition Unit in North America while the other senior managers of Kate Farms will keep a minority of the merged company (press release).
Richard Laver and Michelle Laver founded the business in 2012 as their daughter Kate could not eat because of a cerebral palsy. Since then, the company attracted the resources Milan-based Gerber-Rauth, an investment holding that managing partner Christian Pichler created in 2015, and of several investors who cashed in a rewarding exit out of the sale to Danone.
In early 2020, Kate Farms secured a 23 million US Dollars Series A round that David Roux, the co-founder of Silver Lake and the head of BayPine, led. The company also attracted the resources of John Hammergren, McKesson’sformer chairman and ceo; Gregg Engles, previously head of WhiteWave Foods; William Loomis, which acted as Lazard ceo; and Kristin Loomis, HHV6 Foundation founder and executive director (press release).
In November 2020, Kate Farms raised a 51 million US Dollars Series B round that attracted the resources of Goldam Sachs Asset Management (lead investor), Kaiser Permanent Ventures and the previous investors (press release). Later in 2021, Main Street Advisors poured 9 million in the business (press release). In January 2021, the scaleup also attracted 30 million worth financing facilities from Pacific Western Bank (press release). In September 2022, Kate Farms attracted a Series C round of 75 million that Novo Holdings led with the support of the previous investors (press release).
Pichler said to BeBeez: “This is the second time that one of our investments ended up in the hands of Danone because we were investors in WhiteWave Foods, an European leader for alternative milk that owns the brands Alpro and Provamel. Danone acquired the asset in 2016 for 12.5 billion. Our portfolio asset French Fermentalg reportedly oreceived the authorization to sell its natural dyes, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aims to eliminating synthetic food colours and harmful ingredients from USA food products. We are also currently working on another important transaction”.
