Navis Capital acquires durian exporter

PETALING JAYA: Private equity firm Navis Capital Partners has acquired Malaysian durian exporter, Hernan Corp, according to a media statement.

However, the financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Navis said in a media statement that it plans to invest up to Rm400mil in its expansion plan of Hernan Corp.

It added that it would help the company to grow its capacity to produce durian paste, puree and finished products such as mooncake, ice cream, chocolate and other durian-flavoured confectioneries.

Moving forward, the private equity firm is also looking to acquire up to 10,000 acres of durian plantation in Pahang, in partnership with a local agriculture company.

Currently, Navis manages around Us$5bil in private equity capital across investments in Asian countries.

The rationale behind Navis’ acquisition of the durian plantation is due to the growing demand for durians in China and overseas Chinese communities worldwide.

Last year, China spent around Us$1bil to import durians. The import of durians is expected to doubled by 2023.

Alongside Malaysia, Thailand is also the main producer of durians.

Meanwhile, Navis co-founder and managing partner Nicholas Bloy foresees scope in agri-tech, Internet of Things and the Fourth Industrial Revolution to modernise the entire value chain from durian farming to processing.

The company will also look to adopt an open collaboration approach with other industry players to raise the standards of the industry.

In March, Navis received up to Us$200mil from US government’s development finance institution Overseas Private Investment Corp for its latest fund.

Earlier this year, Navis invested in Vietnam’s private education platform Thanh Thanh Chong Education JSC as well as Thailand’s food processing company Srithai Daily Foods.