Hong Kong, Aug 12 - U.S. venture capital firm Sequoia Capital has agreed to invest $63 million in American Dairy Inc to help the China-focused milk powder maker boost its business, the two companies said on Wednesday.
American Dairy will issue 2.1 million shares, or 10.5 percent of the company after the deal, to Sequoia Capital for $63 million including $47 million in cash and the conversion of a $16 million bridge loan, a joint statement said.
Sequoia Capital will have the right to increase its stake in New York-listed American Dairy if the company misses certain 2009 and 2010 earnings targets.
American Dairy shares were up 8 percent at $30.0 at 1352 GMT.
"American Dairy has been gaining market share since the national milk scandal occurred in China last year as it was one of very few dairy firms that were not found (to have) any problem in the industry scandal," Neil Shen, Sequoia Capital China founding partner, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"As the firm has better control of its upstream quality milk production, it is emerging to be one of the market leaders in China," he said.
More than a dozen Chinese dairy firms including market leader Mengniu Dairy were found to have sold milk containing melamine during last year's tainted milk scandal, putting the Chinese government under high pressure as Chinese families questioned the government for poor quality control.
American Dairy, also known as Feihe in China, produces and distributes infant formula, milk powder and soybean, rice and walnut products in China and it is also the first U.S.-listed Chinese dairy product maker.
The company, based in the northern Chinese province of Heilongjiang and established in 1962, has gained domestic market share quickly to become No. 3 in China in terms of baby milk powder sales since the national milk scandal, Shen said.
American Dairy also exports dairy products to Africa, Europe and Middle East.
European investment bank Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acted as financial advisor to American Dairy on the deal.
OPPORTUNITY AFTER SCANDAL
The deal signified the growing interest of global private equity funds in China's consumer sector despite the international financial crisis.
Last month, Hopu, a $2.5 billion fund set up by influential China dealmaker Fang Fenglei, teamed up with a domestic firm to buy 20 percent of Mengniu for $800 million.
In June, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. said it completed a series of investments in Ma Anshan Modern Farming Co Ltd, a leading dairy farm company headquartered in China's central province of Anhui.
Major players including Mengniu, Yili and Bright Dairy all saw major sales declines following the milk scandal, leaving them needing cash to support growth.
Last month, American Dairy forecast a 10 percent rise in second-quarter revenue as it expects sales of about $41 million for the quarter.