Swedish sustainable food company Oatly recently announced that it has raised $200 million in equity led by Blackstone Growth. 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. 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 oat milk created the fast growing oat milk 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 company says that “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.”
The company plans to make the Oatly product range more readily available to the growing community of health and environmentally conscious consumers worldwide by bringing facilities closer to consumers,
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.
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 category creating 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 to join forces with the Verlinvest-CR JV to ensure its continued success moving forward.”
