ASIA – The Holstein Milk Company (THMC) has received undisclosed amount of funding from Singapore firm Dymon Asia Private Equity as it looks to expand its dairy brand in both Malaysia and Singapore.

The round of private equity investment will help its expansion into Australia where in addition to Malaysia, has more than 5,000 cows.

Speaking to Dairy Reporter, Tan Chow Yin, a partner at Dymon said the funding hopes to assist THMC grow beyond Malaysia with a portfolio which not only consists of dairy brands but also animal genetics through a business in Australia.

According to him, THMC’s Farm Fresh brand serves 40% of the Malaysian milk market.

“Farm Fresh is a brand that Malaysians and increasingly Singaporeans too have grown to know and love over the years, and is a market leader in fresh dairy milk in Malaysia.

“We have watched the brand grow from a few SKUs to more than 50 today,” said Tan.

Apart from managing dairy farms in Australia and Malaysia, THMC also produces fresh and flavored milk, yogurt and even goat’s milk.

“Daymon have been looking at taking a stake in us since almost a year and a half ago.

They wanted to invest in the FMCG category,” he added.

“The Farm Fresh brand met the investment criteria, which prompted them to look at us.”

Expanding into Australia

In Australia, the company has also invested US$20.5 million to acquire a dairy farm and a plant in Victoria, which will also serve as a breeding ground.

It also plans to establish a sperm bank there for breeding cattle through artificial insemination.

The plant is expected to be completed by early next year and will be able to produce 27,000 liters of milk daily which will be re-processed in Malaysia.

THMC is looking to grow to accommodate the increasing number of heifers being bred in Australia to supply the company’s Malaysian farms.