Marketing technology company Primary Opinion has acquired 48% stake in Australian food company Maggi Beer Products for $15m.
The stake sale comes after the food producer Maggi Beer cancelled its plans to issue a public offer.
Of the total investment, $10m will be spent on growth opportunities, while $5m will go to Maggie Beer and her associates as they part with some of their stake.
The investment will also enable Maggi Beer to expand into the Asian market, a region seen as a potential market for Australian food producers, reported The Australian.
The Australian quoted Primary Opinion's chairman Tony Robinson as saying: "Maggie Beer "was a bigger brand than it is a business'' and the goal was to provide it with the investment funds and the support to ramp up the business to fit the brand."
However, Robinson declined to disclose details on the company's financial position. Its annual sales are estimated to be between $20m and $30m.
Robinson said that the brand's growth would come from its current range of food products and its plans to enter the Asian market with the Maggie Beer name.
Robinson was quoted by the publication as saying: "I think it can travel overseas, and we are certainly looking up to Asia, so I think Maggie's exposure on some of the TV programs at the moment, some of those are taken overseas and I think the brand is already getting the starting point of recognition in some Asian regions.
"It has potential out there (in Asia), but the easy step ups first are to broaden the product range in Australia and broaden the base of people who buy it."
Primary Opinion in a regulatory filing said: "It is anticipated that as a result of this transaction, MBP will have approximately $10m in gross proceeds to deploy over time to grow and expand its business."
Primary Opinion is planning to raise $25m capital through share issuance to fund the equity stake.
