A farmland development company backed by Jacob Rothschild is hoping to become the first Brazilian company to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, after attracting investments from some of the territory's largest tycoons.
Agrifirma Brazil purchases scrubland and transforms it into agricultural land. The company has raised $179m to date, including recent investments from two Hong Kong tycoons, Raymond Kwok and Adrian Fu, and Lake House, an investment group.
“There is a shortage of farmland in China itself,” said Mr Fu, a hotel developer. “Eventually China will have to go abroad to source crops.” The Kwok family controls Hong Kong's largest property developer, Sun Hung Kai Properties.