1. Could you briefly tell us about your company's history? Which family generation are you part of?
AGROMILLORA was founded in 1986 with the aim of being an innovative nursery producing fruit trees through in-vitro clonal propagation for the local market. 35 years later, the company has become the global leader in its segment, with industrial operations in 11 countries across 5 continents. It directly employs more than 1,500 people and has introduced numerous innovations across a range of crops through sustainable, fully mechanizable agronomic models. Two examples are high-density olive and almond orchards.
I am part of the second generation at Agromillora, but two of the company's founders are still active in the business.
2. What factors made growth hardest in the company's early years?
In the early years, the challenges were essentially technological, until we got the in-vitro propagation process to work effectively on an industrial scale. This plant propagation method, well known in theory and for small-scale production, had not been taken to industrial scale at high volumes for many species. AGROMILLORA developed multiple technologies in this field during its first years until it achieved robust methods for producing millions of plants in the lab, initially consolidating that production in Spain, Chile, and the United States.
At the same time, another key factor in the company's development was the ability to strengthen our teams for international growth as we began developing projects in other regions (initially the United States and Chile).
3. What led you to pursue a corporate transaction, bringing in an investment partner or selling all the shares?
After 25 years of growth and international expansion, with cutting-edge technology and already leading its market segment worldwide, the shareholders considered bringing in a financial partner who could help capture the full potential they sensed was still left in the knowledge and innovation built up until then.
At the same time, a profound shift was taking hold in the agricultural business, accelerating the mass adoption of technology in the sector and bringing in many new, more professionalized players.
The fact that AGROMILLORA 's equity was held by several founding families also contributed to the decision to bring in a financial investor as a way to raise the level of strategic ambition and consolidate a robust governance and management model, independent of the ups and downs of the various shareholders.
4. What factors helped you choose the best partner?
We would highlight four main factors that we took into account:
- A shared understanding of their role in the company's management and governance.
- The investment's time horizon.
- The investor's assessment of the management team.
- Exit mechanisms that would allow the industrial shareholders to remain.
In addition, we limited the search to funds that invest in minority stakes, since that was the main starting requirement. With these criteria, the fund we finally chose was NAZCA.
5. Describe the main advantages of bringing a financial/corporate partner into your company
In our case, we can say that the goals we set out to achieve have been fully met, especially in two areas:
- Better and more ambitious strategic planning, which has allowed us to capture more of the company's growth potential.
- A more rigorous process of professionalizing management and improving governance, independent of the shareholders, better preparing the company to manage the future.
In short, the company's management has been positively transformed and is now better geared toward creating long-term value for shareholders.
