Zoyi buys Taiwan meat business

Zoyi Capital has invested in Taiwan Farm Industry, a processed meat producer in Taiwan, according to a statement. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The firm has had a long-term relationship with company chairman Chris Chang and has identified a strong growth strategy for the business, the statement said.

“New capital will be used to build a new factory, which will double TFI’s current capacity, allowing the company to capture new business opportunities and realise scale benefits” said Andrew Kuo, founding partner and chief executive of Zoyi Capital.

The investment comes as private equity investors increasingly demonstrate their interest in China’s meat sector.

In June, for example, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts led a private equity consortium, including Baring Private Equity Asia, Boyu Capital and Hopu Investments in a $270 million buyout of COFCO Meat. The firms intend to tackle common issues of quality control and food safety following the investment.

Zoyi has been actively investing from its debut fund this year, investing in Taiwan’s NYSE-listed Camelot Information Systems, a Chinese enterprise resource planning provider, in March, just after its investment in Chinese apparel maker Pink Lady, Private Equity International reported earlier.

Three executives from private equity powerhouses launched Zoyi Capital in September last year, targeting $300 million to invest in Taiwanese companies with the potential to expand across Greater China.

The firm is led by Pei Pei Yu, Eric Chen and Kuo, all former private equity executives with prior experience in Taiwan. Yu is a former partner at Goldman Sachs’ principal investment area, as well as the bank’s ex-head of investment banking in Shanghai and Taiwan. Chen was the president of Fullerton Financial Holdings, a wholly-owned unit of Singapore-based investor Temasek.

Kuo, partner and chief executive of Zoyi, was a senior managing director at The Blackstone Group and remains a senior advisor to the firm.