Oatly fuels expansion with a $200 million equity investment

Oatly gains momentum in its global plant-based movement

15-Jul-2020 - Sweden

Oatly, the Swedish sustainable food company, today announced that it has further bolstered its plant-based movement through an agreement to invest $200 million in equity led by Blackstone Growth (“BXG”). Additional investors in the funding round include Oprah Winfrey, Roc Nation, Natalie Portman, former Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz, Orkila Capital, and Rabo Corporate investments, the investment arm of Rabobank. As minority shareholders, the new investors will join the company’s existing partners, including Verlinvest-CR JV and the company’s founders, on Oatly’s dynamic journey. As part of this transaction, Oatly’s founders will also be reinvesting in the company’s growth by providing additional capital.

The demand for a more sustainable food system is global and growing fast, with much of the shift being led by Millennials and Generation Z. Oatly’s patented original oatmilk created the fastgrowing oatmilk category and the company is a leader in the plant-based food space, with its products available in more than 50,000 locations in 20 countries. The injection of capital will fund the company’s overall growth plans, which include expansion in current markets and new production plants and related jobs in Europe, the US and Asia. By bringing facilities closer to consumers, the company will make the Oatly product range more readily available to the growing community of health and environmentally conscious consumers worldwide.

For Oatly’s CEO Toni Petersson, this investment demonstrates a major step in funding sustainable, society-altering companies. Petersson said: “Leaders in asset management like Blackstone play an essential role in order to create real sustainable change. It is my belief that capital has to turn green and do so for the right reasons. Since we re-launched our brand in 2013, our focus has been to positively impact society by enabling people to change their lives with better, more environmentally responsible food choices, and in so doing, re-shape the food system to better contribute to the future of the planet. We chose to partner with Blackstone Growth because of their tremendous resources and unique reach. Our new partners’ commitment to supporting us and furthering of our mission is a clear indication of where the world is heading, which is in a new, more sustainable direction.”

Jon Korngold, Global Head of Blackstone Growth, said: “Oatly is a premier global brand whose product is committed to healthy and sustainable living with significant runway for continued growth to meet rising consumer demand. We are privileged to partner with Toni and the broader Oatly team to help the company extend its global leadership position in the years to come.”

Since its founding in Sweden in the 1990s, Oatly has always been at the forefront of the rapidly growing plant-based movement. As part of the company’s overarching mission to reduce the C02e footprint of the food industry by shifting consumers’ consumption choices, the company last year added a carbon footprint label to their products in Europe. By making that data available, Oatly enabled consumers to consider the carbon footprint of their food choices before they buy, just as they do with nutritional content. The label was accompanied by a challenge to the larger industry titled “Hey, food industry: show us your numbers!”

The Oatly campaigns delivered several industry-changing results:

Multiple retailers moved to enhanced product labelling, showing carbon footprints;

Mandating enhancing carbon footprint product declarations into law will be debated in the Deutsche Bundestag (German Parliament); and

Food giant Unilever committed to begin carbon labelling for 70,000 of its food products.

“I understand that it may sound naive at times to actually believe that Oatly can change the world — that the impact of what we do can inspire others to make changes that will lead to a global behavioral shift among consumers—but that’s fine. Investments from firms like Blackstone in companies like Oatly is a critical step in securing a future of focused green investment that transcends traditional CSR work and focuses on urgent, systemic efforts to address the climate crisis”, said Petersson.

Eric Melloul, Chairman of Oatly and Managing Director at Verlinvest said: “I am delighted to welcome to the Oatly family our new partners who share our commitment to supporting categorycreating brands and sustainability. Since our initial investment in 2016, we have supported Oatly in its successful transformation from a Nordic brand into a global movement by delivering unique, high-quality engaging products, based on proprietary, patented oat-technology to the new emerging generation of conscious consumers in a transparent manner. We are thrilled as this new investment will accelerate the Oatly brand expansion in North America, Asia and Europe and allow for the emergence of a global leader in food sustainability.”

Ann Chung, Managing Director at Blackstone Growth, said: "Oatly has a creative and talented team, an incredible brand, and a strong set of values. We’re excited to invest in what they have built and tojoin forces with the Verlinvest-CR JV to ensure its continued success moving forward.”

https://www.yumda.com/en/news/1167199/oatly-fuels-expansion-with-a-200-million-equity-investment.html