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    Blackstone, Oprah, Jay Z and Natalie Portman Invest in Oatly

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    Stockholm (NordSIP) – During its latest funding round, plant-based food company Oatly attracted US$200 million in investments, including funds from a range of celebrity American investors such as TV presenter Oprah, rapper Jay Z and actress Natalie Portman, as well as from round-organiser Blackstone.

    Oatly is a Swedish company that offers a broad range of sustainable oat-based products which use a patented enzyme technology that turns fibre-rich oats into nutritional liquid food specifically designed for humans.

    - Partner Message -

    For Oatly’s CEO Toni Petersson, this investment demonstrates a significant step in funding sustainable, society-altering companies. “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,” Petersson said. “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.”

    The funding round was led by private equity fund Blackstone and raised the equivalent to an extra 10% of the capital for the company. “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,” Jon Korngold, Global Head of Blackstone Growth, said. “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.”

    Verlinvest-CR Joint Venture, mid-sized, high-growth businesses in the healthy branded Food & Beverage and Senior Care sectors established in 2016 will remain the majority shareholder of Oatly. “I am delighted to welcome to the Oatly family our new partners who share our commitment to supporting category-creating brands and sustainability,” said Eric Melloul, Chairman of Oatly and Managing Director at Verlinvest. “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.”

    Image © NordSIP

    Filipe Albuquerque
    Filipe Albuquerque
    Filipe is an economist with 8 years of experience in macroeconomic and financial analysis for the Economist Intelligence Unit, the UN World Institute for Development Economic Research, the Stockholm School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Filipe holds a MSc in European Political Economy from the LSE and a MSc in Economics from the University of London, where he currently is a PhD candidate.

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