Sandton Capital Partners acquires Kalera Assets through Lactuca Holdings

The assets of vertical farming company Kalera have been acquired by Lactuca Holdings, LLC for an undisclosed sum, with financial backing provided by private equity investment manager Sandton Capital Partners ("Sandton").

The company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The company continued to operate its business as "debtor-in-possession" under the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court and according to the bankruptcy code. Following this news, Kalera sold its wholly-owned subsidiary Vindara Inc. also to Sandton Capital Solutions Master Fund V, L.P.,

"With indoor farming facilities in Atlanta, Denver, and Houston, which have been acquired as part of the deal, Kalera is playing an important role in providing access to fresh produce for a growing population that is faced with climate change, reduction of fertile farmland, and soil erosion. Its consistent product quality year-round means Kalera can be a sole source solution for its customers", the team says.

This acquisition, backed by Sandton, provides the necessary investment to support the firm's growth, enhancing its relationships with existing customers and supporting its scaling-up activities with new retail and wholesale partners. The company will continue to operate business as usual under the premium Kalera brand. The incumbent Kalera team also remains in a position to lead the business forward.

Cristian Toma, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Kalera, said Kalera is focused on growing fresh, clean, high-quality, nutrient-rich greens in a cost-effective and sustainable way. "Good science is central to our core offering of providing leafy greens grown indoors in perfect conditions and 100% free of harmful sprays and pesticides. Our methods deliver high nutrients and 90% less water while using a fraction of the land traditional farming requires.

We're proud to be an innovative, well-capitalized business leveraging our best-in-class technology and growing methods to achieve the highest quality products for our customers. The investment from Sandton is instrumental in supporting our strategy for long-term growth and fulfilling market demand. It will help us to tap further into the expanding $30 billion global lettuce market.

We have plans to increase our production volumes build upon our already successful high-yielding lettuce and basil programs, and expand our micro-green product portfolio. There are also plans underway to license our technology to other vertical growers to help industry participants and bolster the vertical agriculture industry."