Nazca incorporated in the shareholding of Agromillora

Nazca Capital, through its Nazca Fund III, has been incorporated in the shareholding of Agromillora, global leader in propagation of stone fruit trees, olive trees and grapevines, through a capital increase.

Agromillora was founded in 1986 by the Sumarroca family, Joan Samsó and Joan Torrens, as provider of advanced services for propagation of plants for the agricultural industry. In 2012, it achieved sales of 28 million euros, undergoing annual growth of 15% in the last two years, marked by its growing international expansion. The company has headquarters in Subirats (Barcelona), presence in ten countries (Spain, United States, Chile, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco, Argentina, Brazil, Australia and Jordan) and five propagation laboratories (Spain, United States, Turkey, Brazil and Chile) with a total of 500 employees. Agromillora undertakes notable R&D activity focused on the development of in-vitro propagation processes of woody species and the adaptation of new species to super intensive cultivation techniques. The company provided 30 million plants in 2012 in 12 countries, sales outside of Spain making up over 60% of the total.

Agromillora currently has three lines of business: olive trees (main producer and commercialiser of olive plants for super intensive cultivation in the world), fruit trees (propagation of rootstock of stone and seed fruits, micrografted plants and small fruits) and grapevines (distribution of VCR grafted plants). Agromillora has patented plant materials (commercial brands Olint®, Smarttree®, Micrograft® and Rootpac®) as well as several lines of research focused on the adaptation of certain cultivations such as almond or citrus trees, for exploitation in super intensive planting schemes (SHD), as the company has already developed with olive trees. These super intensive cultivations allow the mechanization of tasks such as pruning and harvesting and greater control in collection, leading to higher quality of the final product (oil, juice, etc.), as well as significant increases in productivity and improvement of costs for the final farmer.

In this new phase, the company has the priority objectives of the consolidation of its strong external growth with the prioritization of markets in America and the Mediterranean, including the Middle East. Therefore, the Sumarroca family and the founders of Agromillora will be supported by the international experience of Nazca for consolidating their development. The management team of Agromillora will continue to be led by Joan Samsó, Jordi Mateu and Joan Torrens.

Also key will be the commercialisation of new varieties and products which the company has spent years researching and which may represent significant improvements in efficiency and health conditions in production of citrus, nuts and red fruits, among others. The Strategic Plan entails a significant increase of the volume of activity of the company up to €65 million sales in 2016 with an international activity percentage of over 70%.