Global Ice Cream LLC is one of the first businesses that API invested in was the Foodmaster Dairy Company. Foodmaster purchased outdated dairy processing assets in Kazakstan, Ukraine and Moldova. The company renovated those plants with modern equipment and produced state-of -the-art dairy products for the markets that it served in those former Soviet countries. The big success story for Foodmaster was its ability to establish one of the leading brand names for dairy products in Kazakstan with #1 market share in several of the markets it served. The initial investment was made in March 1997 with a total investment commitment of $12.3 million. The company grew from zero revenues to sales of $45 million when sold in 2004 to the French cheese maker Lactalis. Enterprise value of this business was $38 million excluding the Foodmaster’s Ice Cream business which was kept until it could reach significant size to attract strategic interest. Today the valuation of Foodmaster is approximately $54 million including the ice cream business. Foodmanster is another example of a business that was started from scratch with old existing Soviet assets and was built into a company with leading market share in the markets that it served.
