Fruitful Deals: Guiding Inorganic Growth in Global Produce

Client Overview

Our client is a global leader in the avocado industry. Founded in 1983 as a dedicated supplier of fresh Hass avocados, the company has since expanded into mangos, establishing itself as a leader in the fresh fruit space. Today, they source, produce, and distribute avocados and mangos to retail, wholesale, and foodservice customers in over 25 countries. The vertically integrated company owns and operates four state-of-the-art packing facilities in key growing locations globally, including California, Mexico, and Peru, and has additional sourcing capabilities in Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Brazil, Ecuador, South Africa, and more. Their global distribution network includes 13 forward distribution centers strategically positioned across North America, China, Europe, and the UK, offering value-added services such as ripening, bagging, custom packing, and logistics management. These capabilities allow the company to provide a consistent, year-round supply of premium fruit.

The Challenge/Mandate

The client faced the pressing need to drive inorganic growth but lacked a clear M&A strategy. They sought support in building a structured process to identify, assess, and pursue top acquisition targets. The goal was to establish a rigorous framework for evaluating the top 100 potential acquisition opportunities, conduct due diligence, and ultimately build a repeatable playbook for executing partnerships, roll-ups, and divestitures.

They needed an experienced M&A leader with both strategic and execution capabilities—someone who could work cross-functionally across finance, operations, and executive leadership to guide the company’s inorganic growth strategy.

Search Strategy

We targeted candidates with a combination of consulting and transactional M&A experience, particularly those with a background in the food and beverage industry. We prioritized individuals with:

• Extensive experience in M&A advisory, transaction execution, and post-merger integration
• Experience at top-tier consulting firms (e.g., Accenture, EY, Deloitte) or boutique M&A advisory firms
• Operational and strategic capability to develop acquisition theses, lead due diligence, and build internal M&A playbooks
• Familiarity with the unique dynamics of agriculture, CPG, or vertically integrated global supply chains
• Strong communication and leadership skills to coordinate with executives, investors, and functional leaders
• Bonus: Investment banking experience or exposure to private equity-backed companies

​

We sought profiles at the Director/Senior Manager level with a proven ability to manage complex transactions and lead cross-functional initiatives.

The Placement

The selected candidate brought a rare blend of investment banking, strategy consulting, and operational M&A experience. A former Director at a boutique M&A firm and ex-Senior Manager in EY’s Transaction Advisory Services practice, he had led over 80 transactions totaling more than $20B in value.

His background included:

• $20B+ in investment banking and capital markets transactions
• $12B+ in operational M&A advisory projects
• Experience leading large-scale spin-offs, integrations, and restructuring programs for Fortune 500 companies
• Strategic roles at Accenture’s M&A Growth Strategy Group, including end-to-end deal management and synergy realization
• Financial advisory experience with high-net-worth clients and alternative investments at Morgan Stanley
• His ability to synthesize strategy with execution, combined with deep food and beverage sector insights, made him uniquely qualified to architect the client’s inorganic growth strategy.

The Outcome

The M&A advisor established a clear, data-driven process for evaluating acquisition targets, helping the client prioritize and engage with the most strategically aligned opportunities. He developed the company’s first M&A playbook, introduced best practices for due diligence and integration, and built cross-functional workflows for future transactions.

His impact extended beyond immediate deal-making. He positioned the client to scale its acquisition engine by embedding institutional knowledge, repeatable processes, and internal capabilities. With his leadership, the company now operates with greater clarity and confidence in its inorganic growth efforts and is pursuing several high-value acquisition opportunities across its key sourcing and distribution regions.