8 Miles, an independent private equity fund management business, has invested in Verde Beef Processing, an agribusiness that specializes in producing premium beef in Adami Tulu, Oromia in Ethiopia.

8 Miles has acquired a significant minority stake alongside the management team and founder investors.

The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Doug Agble, Partner at 8 Miles LLP, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to work with the highly experienced team at Verde Beef and introduce premium Ethiopian beef into the growing global beef market.”

Ethiopia has the sixth largest cattle population in the world and Verde Beef Processing operates a beef processing business situated on a 1,300 ha feedlot and crop-farming facility in Adami Tulu, south of Addis Ababa.

The business uses its feedlot facilities to feed and fatten cattle and has recently started export of their premium quality Ethiopian beef.

With the new investment, Verde Beef Processing plans to grow more than ten-fold from its current base of 6,000 animals as demand for their beef in the Middle East, Africa and Asia continues to increase.

The business also plans to begin construction of its own abattoir and meat processing facility in 2017 in order to enhance its product offering and maintain high export quality standards.

Scott Friesen, CEO and co-founder of Verde Beef Processing, said: “The investment from 8 Miles will enable us to grow our business significantly and become a top beef processing company in Africa. Over the coming years, we expect this project to reskill and employ hundreds of Ethiopian people in the production of export grade beef.”

8 Miles LLP is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Fund is only open to institutional and qualified investors.

Previous 8 Miles investments include: Orient Bank, a mid-tier commercial bank in Uganda; Eagle Chemicals, a producer of resin and polymer products in Egypt; Biyinzika Poultry International, a poultry producer in Uganda; Awash Winery, an Ethiopian winery; and Eleni LLC, a company intended to build and invest in commodity exchanges in Africa.

8 Miles was advised by Simon Tinkler and Danny Mutisya (Clifford Chance) and Sandip Shah (KPMG).

Verde Beef Processing was advised by Wayne Hollingsworth and Kevin Leiske (Ambrust & Brown, US) and Anthony Littner and Felix Wong (Harbottle, UK).