ANI expands foothold in China

MANILA, Philippines - Agrinurture Inc. (ANI) is expanding its foothold in China through the acquisition of a majority stake in a food and real estate company for 42 million renminbi or over P300 million.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ANI said it has signed an agreement with Liang Shun-ming for the acquisition of the latter’s rights, title and interest to 49 percent of the total registered capital of Zongshan Fucang Trade Co. Ltd., a major rice and fruit trader based in Guangdong, China.

Liang is the registered owner of 90 percent of the total registered capital of Zongshan Fucang, ANI said.

 “The acquisition of 49 percent interest in Zongshan Fucang Trade Co. Ltd. is expected to aid in the expansion of the trading business of the company as well as to develop a new distribution network in China,” ANI said.

Zongshan Fucang is engaged in agri commodity trading, including investments in rural real estate development, food terminal, cold storage facilities and agri trading platform.

Zongshan Fucang indirectly owns 51 percent of Xuzhou Shengmei Century Property Co. Ltd., which has rural real estate development in Xuzhou, Jiangsu valued at more than RMB200 million or almost P1.5-billion, according to ANI.

It will be first agri trading platform linking Northeast China to Southeast Asia since Xuzhou is a strategic trading hub of agri commodities in that region, ANI added.

ANI is a company engaged in various agro-commercial businesses, specifically focusing on the export trading of fresh produce as its main revenue stream.

At present, ANI supplies homegrown fruits such as mango, banana and pineapple to customers in Hong Kong, Mainland China, the Middle East and to different European regions.

The company has also ventured into the importation and trading of rice.

Its Philippine operations group is organized into three business units, namely export, local distribution, and retail and franchising.

It has a foreign operations group, which is principally fruits and vegetable trading in Hong Kong, China and Europe, with an office in Hong Kong.