Herbex, Almeria's leading producer and marketer of fresh aromatic herbs in Europe, produces nearly 12 million kilos of aromatic plants every year, 5% with organic certificates, in the nearly one thousand hectares of production that it owns in Spain, Senegal, and Morocco. In October 2018, the Nazca venture capital fund entered Herbex with a majority stake of 80%. After more than 3 years, the firm's CEO, Rafael Martinez, has not ruled out the company becoming part of a larger agri-food group in the future, if its main shareholder leaves it.
In an interview with Efeagro, Martinez made it clear that there still is no date for Nazca's divestment from Herbex. However, he said, Nazca, like any fund, has an input and output vocation. "If it leaves, it is very likely that Herbex will end up joining a larger group; it's just common sense," he stated.
Sources from Nazca told Efeagro that the fund specializes in temporarily investing in medium-sized companies in Spain that are growing and that it has a lot of experience with family-based companies. "Our mission is always to reinforce their professionalization and make them more solid and stronger in a four, five, or six-year plan," they added.
Nazca has assured that there is no fixed term for the divestment, which may occur before or after 2024, a year in which they plan the group reaches a turnover of 80 million euros.
The company hasn't started any talks for the shareholding change but they have already been approached by interested companies, both financial and industrial, they stated.
Source: efeagro.com
