Funding for growth with Food & Beverage

Many Australian Food & Beverage (F&B) businesses expect to build or expand their operations, to aid in both supply chain pressures and development of new product capabilities and markets. Others are planning to implement new information technologies and to pursue mergers and acquisitions. According to Grant Thornton’s recent Hunger for growth – Food & beverage looks to the future’ study, more than three-quarters of executives from across the globe report that their organisations will increase spending on equipment, new product development and information technology in the next 12 months. Some businesses are catching up on investments postponed during the global financial crisis, while others focus on growth through innovation, acquisitions and more recently overseas markets.

Raising capital to fund this growth is vital for many businesses, however in the current climate; this can be extremely challenging. Funding for growth with Food & Beverage provides some insight into the evolving funding landscape for F&B companies; including:

• an increase in non-bank lending for F&B companies
• the growing interest of Private Equity buyers
• pursuing an IPO approach
• the tax implications of raising capital