Afimilk develops and manufactures advanced systems for the management of dairy farms

Afimilk

LIC has agreed to acquire 50% stake in Israeli agritech firm Afimilk (Credit: LIC)

New Zealand-based cooperative Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) has agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Israeli agritech company Afimilk for around NZD108.7m ($69m).

Fortissimo is divesting its complete 30.8% stake in Afimilk, while the Kibbutz is selling 19.2% interest in the company.

Afimilk and Kibbutz chairman Arik Schor said: “The fruitful cooperation between Kibbutz Afikim and Fortissimo enabled Afimilk to achieve revenue and profitability growth.

“Afimilk will continue to operate from its headquarters in Kibbutz Afikim and together with its new strategic partner will strengthen its global presence and continue to expand its activities.”

Afimilk is involved in the development, manufacturing and marketing of advanced systems for the management of dairy farms.

Afimilk provides farm management software to the farmers

The company mainly produces milk metres and behaviour sensors, as well as farm management software for its customers.

With significant distribution activities in Europe and North America, Afimilk carries out operations in more than 50 countries across the world. Fonterra, a major milk producer, is one of the shareholders of LIC.

The deal is expected to be completed during the second quarter of this year.

LIC chair Murray King said: “We believe there are likely to be further development opportunities for in-line milk meters, to increase LIC’s resilience to the threat of disruption to access to pastoral dairy farming data posed as a result of the move away from traditional herd-testing services.

“The investment will also help to drive future growth by opening LIC’s access to data on other farming methods beyond pastoral held by Afimilk.”

In December 2019, New Zealand-based Fonterra acquired a stake of 13.6% in Prolesur, a Chile-based milk processor, from Fundación Isabel Aninat for NZD29.3m ($19.3m).