Total Produce increases stake in Grandview Ventures

Total Produce has paid €28.4m (C$39.5m) to acquire a further 30% stake in Grandview Ventures (GVL), which trades under the names of the Oppenheimer Group and Oppy. 

In 2013, Total Produce acquired 35% stake in GVL and with this new acquisition, the company now owns a total of 65% stake.

It has been reported that Total Produce has invested €43.4m (C$60.6m).

Total Produce chairman Carl McCann said: “We are very pleased to increase our shareholding in Oppy and for Oppy and Total Produce to strengthen ties with T&G Global.

“We look forward to continuing to work with John Anderson in Oppy, Alastair Hulbert in T&G and their teams in the coming years to further build on the success of Oppy and Delica North America.”

Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Oppy offers fresh produce for the retail, wholesale and foodservice customers throughout the US and Canada.

Oppy has also entered an agreement with T&G Global, a New Zealand-based grower, packer, distributor, trader, marketer and exporter of fresh produce.

Headquartered in Auckland, T&G Global offers premium apples and pears, which are sold globally under its owned brands, which include ‘Jazz’, ‘Envy’, and ‘Pacific Rose’.

With this new agreement, Oppy anticipates that it will enable both to enhance their market positions as co-shareholders in two US produce businesses.

Under the deal, T&G Global will increase its stake in Oppy’s largest subsidiary, the US focused marketer David Oppenheimer & Company (DOC) from 15% to 39.4%, which it has held since 1997.

Thereafter its shareholding will match the effective share of DOC held by Total Produce.

As part of the deal, Oppy will acquire from T&G Global a 50% stake of T&G Global’s California-headquartered US export business, T&G Global North America, which is known in the market as Delica North America (Delica NAM).