World’s biggest rose grower taken over by US private equity
The world’s biggest rose grower, owned by the Dutch Barnhoorn family, is being taken over by US venture capital group KKR. According to the US press, KKR is paying €147m for a majority stake in Afriflora.
Afriflora is now based in Ziway in Ethiopia, where it produced 730 million roses in greenhouses covering 310 hectares last year, according to the Volkskrant.
Dutch rose growers began moving to Africa en masse in the 1990s. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia are popular destinations.
Despite criticism of the rose industry by human rights groups who say workers are often exploited, Afriflora is fair trade certified.
The company made net profit of €17m on turnover of €81m last year. The company employs 9,000 people but this will rise to 14,000 when the expansion funded through KKR goes through.
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.
We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.
Make a donation