Surexport Compañía Agraria, backed by investors, has joined the fruit producer's portfolio with three acquisitions in the fresh berries segment.

Huelva, Spain-based Surexport, which produces and supplies strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, has bought local peer Flor de Doñana, AG Group in Morocco and Solana Fruits of Portugal, with the support of private equity investors.

Alantra Private Equity, which acquired a majority stake in Surexport in 2020, said in a statement that the deals were backed by co-investors Keyhaven Capital Partners, based in London, and Oquendo Capital, based in Spain.

The "highly strategic add-on acquisitions" will reinforce Surexport's "leading position in a highly fragmented industry, expand its production capabilities in core geographies, complement the company's product offering and drive year-round product availability to serve to the main European retailers. Alantra said.

He added: “With a diversified geographic presence in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, the company [Surexport] has long-standing relationships with top-tier European food retailers and best-in-class logistics and processing capabilities.”

Collectively, fruit growers generated 220 million euros ($233,9 million) in revenue in the 2022-23 fiscal year from 1.600 hectares of agricultural land, Alantra said. That figure is expected to reach 300 million euros in the next three years.

Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

In a separate statement from Keyhaven, Ángel Manotas, CEO of Alantra, said: “Before becoming a shareholder in the company, we identified inorganic growth as a key strategic pillar for Surexport to become the largest European producer of berries. fresh.

“In this regard, we decided to partner with Keyhaven and other co-investors to support Surexport as the leading platform to successfully consolidate a highly fragmented sector.”

Solana, based in Olhão, Algarve, was previously trading as Hubel Agricola. The company grows the same range of berries as Surexport. Ag Group specializes in blueberries while Flor de Doñana, also located in Huelva, grows organic berries.

Teddy Mouawad, Partner at Keyhaven, said: “We are delighted to partner with Alantra to support Surexport's growth strategy, led by CEO and founder, Andrés Morales, together with a strengthened management team.”

“The completion of the three additional acquisitions marks an important milestone in the evolution of the company, placing Surexport in a privileged position as a clear leader in the European industry.”

The global berry and fruit sector has seen a number of mergers and mergers lately, the most recent of which was the acquisition by Frutura Produce in California of the American Sun Belle and Giddings Fruit in Chile.

The Spanish Planasa also took full control of its Chinese blueberry subsidiary, Meiming. Planasa itself was acquired by German family investment company EW Group in September.

Again in Spain, fruit producers and suppliers Grupo Clasol and Cooperativa San Alfonso de Valencia merged, while South African fresh produce supplier Capespan secured a new majority owner .

In September, Viru Group acquired its US frozen fruit and vegetable peer Superior Foods International and Grupo Hame bought Peruvian Agrokasa. And already in July, the Spanish citrus producers and suppliers, Guillem Export and Frutas Tono, also merged.